Object Literature
Children’s bacchanal
The bacchanal is a mythological lively celebration inspired by the ancient god of wine –Bacchus. Although this Pagan festival ended with the Roman Empire, depictions of the bacchanalia could be seen on ancient buildings, and Renaissance artists continued depicting the bacchanalia in art, often with Christian undertones. The children’s bacchanal is much rarer in art and is perhaps most famously known from Michelangelo’s 1533 drawing for a young Roman nobleman. It is considered one of Michelangelo’s finest drawings and is now in the English Royal Collection.
Michelangelo Guggenheim of Venice (1837-1914)
Born to German parents in Venice, Michelangelo Guggenheim became one of the city’s most successful sculptors and dealers, expanding the business he inherited into a veritable empire based from the Palazzo Balbi on the Grand Canal and counting no less than three workshops. Not only a highly skilled and creative artist, Michelangelo was a respected academic publishing on the matter of antique woodwork and Renaissance frames. He participated in the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna, as well as those in Milan in 1881, Venice in 1887 and Paris in 1889, presenting a selection of carved furniture & sculpture alongside bronzes and stone statuary.
