Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The complex composition of intertwined figures, skillfully carved in the round from a narrow block, is the most ambitious marble made in partnership by Gian Lorenzo and Pietro Bernini. Based on ancient sarcophagi, this bacchic revel already shows Gian Lorenzo’s boldness in challenging antiquity. He tests the limits of sculpture and renders a host of motifs in different textures of marble: the supple children, one sticking out his tongue; the smooth, muscular tension of the toothless faun; and the tree’s bark and juicy fruits. This group was recorded in the inventory of Gian Lorenzo’s home at the time of his death.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art