Bacchante (Grapes or Autumn) 1869 - 1879

Curator: Immediately, there's this wistful quality... it’s almost autumnal, this soft melancholy. It reminds me a little bit of, strangely enough, a pre-Raphaelite painting, despite being a sculpture. Editor: We are looking at Auguste Rodin’s "Bacchante (Grapes or Autumn)," created sometime between 1869 and 1879. This captivating sculpture, rendered in marble, presents a bust of a woman adorned with grape leaves and grapes, now residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curator: Yes! The grapes! They bring this touch of fleeting ripeness, that sense of almost… over-ripeness, which connects to the emotional undertone that I picked up on, right away. I can see symbolism writ large, beyond just the Classical reference. What kind of myths might she conjure for the artist, I wonder? Editor: Bacchantes, in mythology, were, of course, the female followers of Bacchus, or Dionysus, god of wine, fertility, and theatre. Given that context, her expression offers an interesting contrast: She seems rather reserved, even melancholic, despite her association with ecstatic revelry. Rodin created this work relatively early in his career; how might this relate to broader narratives around the representation of women, or around notions of sensuality in art? Curator: It could be a critique of the traditional representation! And then there's the gaze. The eyes aren't exactly downcast, but there’s a definite deflection, suggesting an inward focus. Was she free, I wonder? Was she even happy? The era may place certain constraints on interpreting this piece, and I am tempted to apply current, modern-day feminist interpretation on it. Editor: Absolutely. Placing this within its time, Rodin may well have been challenging conventional norms through nuanced expressions. The contrast she embodies —the exuberance associated with the Bacchantes versus her more contained sorrow—makes the artwork quite complex. The marble almost breathes, don’t you think? Curator: I do. The quality in the material also softens its representation. In fact, now that I look at it more carefully, perhaps there’s also a sense of burgeoning strength here. Editor: Right, like potential ready to bloom. Thanks, this was fascinating, thank you!