Bacchant

Adriaen de Vries (signed by artist), 1626

In so far as is known, this is the last sculpture Adriaen de Vries made. It radiates the virtuoso and idiosyncratic style for which he is so justly famous. The pose of the figure is very dynamic and the body is loosely modelled, lending the bronze a certain sketchiness and spontaneity. In this De Vries was far ahead of his time; sculptors would only adopt this exceptional manner of modelling a few centuries later.

Artwork typefigure
Object numberBK-2015-2-1
Dimensionsheight 108 cm x width 47.5 cm x depth 58.5 cm
Physical characteristicsbrons

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more by Adriaen de Vries

Triton Blowing a Conch Shell

Adriaen de Vries, c. 1615 - c. 1617

Bacchus Finding Ariadne on Naxos

Adriaen de Vries, c. 1611

Sextus Tarquinius and Lucretia

after Adriaen de Vries, after Adriaen de Vries, c. 1600 - c. 1700

Identification

Title(s)
Bacchant
Object type
Object number
BK-2015-2-1
Inscriptions / marks
signature and date: ‘ADRIANVS FRIES 1626’

Creation

Creation
- sculptor: Adriaen de Vries (signed by artist), Prague
- bronze caster: Hans Hilliger, Prague
Dating
1626
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Material and technique

Physical description
brons
Dimensions
height 108 cm x width 47.5 cm x depth 58.5 cm

This work is about

Subject

Acquisition and rights

Credit line
Purchased with the generous support of the Vereniging Rembrandt (and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds), the Stichting Nationaal Fonds Kunstbezit, the BankGiro Lottery, the Rijksmuseum Fonds, the VSBfonds, the Mondriaan Fonds, the Frits en Phine Verhaaff Fonds, the Stichting Beau Lieu et Beaux Arts, the Marjon Ornstein Fonds, the Elles Nansink Fonds, the Familie Verbeek Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds, Henri en Winnie Wientjes, the Rijksmuseum International Circle and private donations
Acquisition
purchase 2015-03-06
Copyright
Public domain

Documentation

- cat. Christie’s New York, Adriaen de Vries’s Bacchic Figure supporting the globe, New York (Thursday 11 December 2014) (separately printed and extended version of the entry in catalogue Christie’s New York, The exceptional sale, 11 December 2014, nr. 10).
- Cat. Christie’s London, The exceptional sale, Londen, 7 juli 2011, nr 20.
- Michael Wening, Historico-topographica descriptio Bavariae. Das ist: Beschreibung, deß Churfürsten- und Hertzogthums Ober- und Nidern-Bayrn, deel II, München 1721, p. 21.
- Frits Scholten, ‘Just movement: on the significance and reception of Adriaen de Vries’s painterly manner’, Simiolus 40 (2018), p. 150-166.
- Peter Hecht, ‘Dutch museum acquisitions (2010-2014), supported by the Vereniging Rembrandt’, The Burlington Magazine CLVII, nr. 1343 (feb. 2015), p. 141-142, nr. II.