Bacchanale

Nymphs and satyrs take part in an ancient pagan feast celebrating Bacchus, god of wine — twisting, dancing, singing, and playing instruments in unrestrained revelry, their small figures somewhat at odds with the dignified background of classical ruins. Alessandro Magnasco used a limited palette with bright blue accents for the swirling drapery, and created the figures with quick, intuitive strokes of paint that fill the composition with movement. He painted the work, with its pendant *The Triumph of Venus* also in the Getty collection, in Milan early in his career. The painting is held in the J. Paul Getty Museum.