Bacchus and Ariadne

Bacchus and Ariadne is one of Titian’s greatest masterpieces and a major work of the Venetian High Renaissance. It depicts Bacchus discovering Ariadne after Theseus abandons her on Naxos. Titian builds the scene with a striking diagonal composition, contrasting the still blue sky with the lively procession below, and using rich color and movement to heighten the drama.

Titian painted Bacchus and Ariadne for Alfonso I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, as part of the Camerino d’Alabastro cycle. The painting left Ferrara in 1598, when the duchy was seized by the papacy, and then passed through the Aldobrandini and Pamphili families before being sold to dealers during the Napoleonic Wars. William Buchanan brought it to England in 1806, and the National Gallery in London purchased it in 1826, where it remains today.