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Feast of the Gods with Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne

Feast of the Gods with Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne

Object type Painting
Genre Classical Mythology
Date 1602
Dimensions 31.2 x 40.5 cm
Support Copper
Medium Oil
Signature Gio. Rottenhammer 1602 F. in Venetia
Collaborators Hans Rottenhammer
Our attribution Jan Brueghel the Elder
Other authorities Ertz as Hans Rottenhammer and Jan Brueghel the Elder (confirmed for 2012 sale)
Location/Most Recent Sale Paris, Christie's, sold 21 June 2012, lot 15 (for $1,575,889)
Tags Feasting, Wedding, Rottenhammer, Nude, Putti, Food, Fruit, Musical instruments
16th century to 17th century Prague Rudolf II von Habsburg
Until 1776 Paris Marquis d'Arcambal
Feb 22 1776 Paris Sale of Marquis d'Arcambal to Fournel, Lot #14 (on copper, "hauteur douze pouces, largeur dix-sept pouces")
1793 Paris Renaud-César-Louis de Choiseul, duc de Praslin
Feb 18 1793 Paris Sale of Renaud-César-Louis, Lot #72 (on copper, "hauteur onze pouces, largeur quatorze pouces" approx. 30 x 38 cm.)
19th century to 20th century France Maurice Abram de Zincourt and by descent into the present owners
Julie Turgeon
June 2, 2014

According to the 2012 auction lot notes, an anonymous copy of Feast of the Gods with Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne is currently housed in the Hermitage Museum. Another copy by Hendrick van Balen is in Leipzig, at the Museum der bildenden Kunste. The seated female figure seen from the back is a reversal of a figure painted by Rottenhammer in an earlier Feast of the Gods, Marriage of Neptune and Amphitrite: Feast of the Gods by the Sea, (also in the Hermitage Museum, inv. #688). Additionally, Klaus Ertz posited that the female goddess seated next to Bacchus in this painting could be Ceres, rather than Ariadne.