Bacchus and Ceres 1590

Bartholomeus Spranger created this reddish-brown drawing, Bacchus and Ceres. Immediately, the single color unifies the figures and landscape elements into an overall surface pattern, almost flattening the image. However, Spranger destabilizes such a reading through the graphic use of line. Notice how the figures are built through networks of hatching, cross-hatching and curvilinear strokes. These marks define the muscular forms of Bacchus and Ceres while energizing the space around them. In this way, the artist calls attention to both volume and surface simultaneously. The composition, while seemingly classical in subject matter, is disrupted by this tension between form and surface design. The composition does not conform to traditional Renaissance ideals of balance and symmetry; figures are pushed forward, and there is an ambiguity in spatial recession. Ultimately, Spranger uses the formal elements of line and composition to create a work of art that destabilizes established meanings, inviting ongoing interpretation.