FRANCE XVIIIe siècle

FRANCE XVIIIe siècle

BACCHUS IVRE White marble
H. 37 cm, W. 69 cm, D. 26 cm
This white marble sculpture depicts Bacchus, god of Wine and Feast, lying on a bed of foliage, his head resting on an empty, inverted amphora. He is still holding a gourd in his hand, which shows his intoxication as does the expression on his sleeping face, his mouth open.
The treatment of the body and the position of the figure are reminiscent of Jean-Baptiste Stouf's Morceau de réception de Jean-Baptiste Stouf (1742-1826), Abel expiring, preserved in the Louvre Museum (fig. 1).
The naked body of Abel, abandoned in the imminent death of a great realism both in the treatment of the skeleton and in the musculature, can be found in our Bacchus, the latter having more fleshy forms, specific to the festive and orgiastic character (fig. 2).
The facial features are similar, young and of great finesse (fig. 3).
We find on both figures this half-open mouth, a characteristic visible in other works by Stouf such as the Afflicted Girl (Musée du Louvre, inv. RF4516).
Jean-Baptiste Stouf was a pupil of William I Coustou. Having only been awarded second place in the Prix de Rome of 1769, he decided to stay at his own expense at the Villa Medici.
He was accredited in 1784 and became an Academician in 1785. He took part in the programme of the Hommes Illustres de la France (Illustrious
Men of France) commissioned by the Comte d'Angiviller, Director of the King's Buildings in 1776, by directing Montaigne (Louvre), Custine (Versailles) and Saint Vincent de Paul (Saint Thomas Aquinas Church in Paris). He also participated in the column of the Grande Armée. Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.