Bacchante 1695 - 1705

Robert Le Lorrain sculpted this bronze Bacchante in France sometime around the turn of the 18th century. The figure depicts a female follower of the Roman god of wine, Bacchus. Through her rapturous pose, she invites viewers into a pagan ritual, seemingly untouched by the sober social mores of the era. Le Lorrain was a product of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, an institution that dominated the art world in France. Its preference for classical subjects is clear in this work, but what does it mean to represent religious ecstasy? This sculpture offers us an opportunity to consider the role of art in the absolutist state. Was it purely a tool of propaganda, or did it allow for more ambiguous ideas about freedom? Further research into the archives of the Academy and court records from Versailles would certainly offer more insight into the public role of art at the time. It's through this historical lens that we can start to consider the social conditions that shaped artistic production.