Art Captions

Author notes

0041. Drinking Bacchus

CornTown

on Feb. 22, 2010

By Guido Reni
Circa. 1623
Italian Baroque

In Greek time, Dionysus (Who later became Bacchus under the Rome system) was the god of wine, drinking and a favor subject of artists. Unlike Zeus or Poseidon who were almost always portrayed as serious, Dionysus was a playful god who loved both drink and women to excess. This lightheartedness made the god of wine a popular subject of artists because it gave artists an excuse to paint comedic scenes that were usually not tolerated in high art. During the Renaissance, artists once again turned to Dionysus, as an escape from drawing serious paintings of both Christianity and Mythology.