This work by William Adolphe Bouguereau depicts two rather strange creatures. Both of them were part of the thiasus or procession of the god of wine, Bacchus. This procession included animals, fauns and satyrs, but also hybrid creatures and bacchantes.
A “bacchante”, also known as a maenad, is a woman possessed by the spirit of the inebriating god and who dances in celebration of the cult. Associated with the sensuality and pleasures of the flesh she also has a darker side, triggering deadly frenzies during her dance. However here, this mythological theme is just a pretext for representing a naked and sensual feminine body. Set against a backdrop of greenery, we can see the young woman belongs to the thiasus from the crown of vines leaves on her head.
The painter has also painted her attribute on the ground, a staff topped with a pine cone or thyrse. Bacchic vocabulary dominates in Bouguereau’s iconography which may be explained by the fact his father was a wine merchant from Bordeaux. During his lifetime, the painter was very successful in the United States and today a large number of his works are still housed in American museums.
