Bacchanal c. 1660

This ivory object titled ‘Bacchanal’ was sculpted by Bernard Strauss. The scene depicts a bacchanal, a Roman festival for Bacchus, the god of wine and ecstasy. In this context, looking at the social history is crucial. This piece likely embodies the complex relationship between pleasure, excess, and social order. By depicting a bacchanal, Strauss taps into long traditions of classical imagery, connecting the object to elite artistic and intellectual culture. The choice of ivory as a medium is interesting: this was a rare, luxurious material, and reflects the wealth and status of the patron who commissioned the work. To understand this object more deeply, we need to place it within its time, considering how classical themes were reinterpreted and used to comment on the social structures of the day. The archive of the patron or other historical documents may reveal how ‘Bacchanal’ was intended to function within a specific social context.