Bacchante with an Ape Enlarge (62MB) Zoom in  Hendrick Ter
Brugghen Dutch, 1627 Oil on canvas 40 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.  Add to
Getty Bookmarks  A bacchante, follower of Bacchus, the god of
wine, leans forward and grins at the viewer while squeezing a
bunch of grapes into a golden drinking vessel. Her posture,
exposed breasts, flushed cheeks, and inviting smile allude to
her drunken state. There is something disturbing, however, in
the way she provocatively confronts the viewer, leaning into the
spectator's space and smiling broadly. In the lower left corner
an ape mimics the woman's gesture, holding a smaller bunch of
grapes in his right paw. The ape may serve a moralizing purpose,
condemning excessive drinking.  While visiting Rome from about
1604 to 1614, Hendrick ter Brugghen saw the famous Bacchus by
Caravaggio from which this classical painting of Bacchus's
female follower derives.  Detail Views