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Bacchus in the Vat

Modeled 1904; cast 1925
Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917) Cast by the founder Alexis Rudier, Paris (1874–1952)
Bacchus—the Roman god of wine—was known for his love of drink, dancing, and revelry. Rodin shows him as a giddy figure falling backward into a pot overflowing with wine. The artist was fascinated by half-human, half-animal figures; the god’s cloven hooves and hairy legs seem to suggest that Bacchus’s rowdy behavior makes him not fully human.

Object Details

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