BACCHUS and ARIADNE Meeting on the Island of Naxos – BACCO e ARIANNA Incontro sull'isola di Naxos

Di Luciano Marastoni

x A terracotta sculpture – an authentic masterpiece by an unknown artist that the author of this volume got hold of – depicts the Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne. The scene is almost identical to famous engravings and paintings, first and foremost that of Antoine Coypel (17th century), not to mention Titian Vecellio's "Bacchus and Ariadne". The comparison of the paintings with the terracotta relief raises many questions, also in light of two thermoluminescence analyses that date the anonymous masterpiece to the 16th century. The artistic and historical investigation, carried out by the author with the Sherlock Holmes touch that a work as beautiful as it is enigmatic deserves, leads to a few hypotheses and opens up many questions. Questions to which researchers and expert readers will be able to try to find answers, thanks to the wealth of iconography, the numerous sources cited and the in-depth analysis. Beyond all this, the enchantment of a work of timeless beauty remains. Una scultura di terracotta – un autentico capolavoro di artista sconosciuto di cui l'autore del presente volume è entrato in possesso – ritrae il Trionfo di Bacco e Arianna. La scena è pressoché identica a famose incisioni e opere pittoriche, prima fra tutte quella di Antoine Coypel (XVII secolo), senza dimenticare il "Bacco e Arianna" di Tiziano Vecellio. La comparazione delle opere pittoriche con il rilievo in terracotta fa scaturire non pochi quesiti, anche alla luce di due analisi di termoluminescenza che datano l'anonimo capolavoro al XVI secolo. L'indagine storico-artistica, condotta dall'autore con piglio da Sherlock Holmes, come merita un'opera tanto bella quanto enigmatica, conduce a qualche ipotesi e apre a molte domande. Domande alle quali gli studiosi e i lettori esperti, grazie al ricco corredo iconografico, alle numerose fonti citate e all'analisi approfondita, potranno tentare di dare risposta. Al di là di tutto, resta l'incanto di un'opera dalla bellezza senza tempo.

• Lingua: Italiano
• Editore: Youcanprint
• Data di uscita: 16 giu 2022
• ISBN: 9791220399012

Anteprima del libro

■ Diónysos: between myth and mystery¹

To go back to the bibliographical sources and list them in a way that is, if not exhaustive, at least comprehensive, is an arduous undertaking, practically impossible.

So, I will simply cite, among the many, perhaps the best known and most reliable: the eighth book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses², which devotes only seven verses to our protagonists.

The references to Bacchus – a divinity that is in some ways anomalous with respect to the classical Pantheon – in the beautiful book that bears the title of this chapter, full of innumerable quotations – edited by Gian Pietro Ghini in a dedicated chapter – taken from classical literary sources, are of a very different documentary depth.

In addition to the written sources, there are numerous references on the web, which, given the sheer volume, I deem unnecessary to list.

And then there is Ariadne: a mortal betrayed in love and abandoned on the Greek island of Naxos by another mortal, Theseus, an Athenian hero.

Hearing her cries and desperate lamentations, Bacchus swoops down on the island with the symposiasts, fantastic figures following the god back from India (Thíasos).

Bacchus is captivated by the beauty of the young Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, and falls in love with her.

Intoxicated by wine and music, very different from the Apollonian music (Nietzsche)3 which, according to Plato in the Republic, disturbed the soul, satyrs or fauns in chorus, maenads or Bacchae, Silenes, festive heroes, Pan with panthers and leopards, goats and donkeys in tow, accompany the god's courtship of Ariadne, which has a happy ending.

Their triumph of love (Dionysian symposium or bacchanal) will be admired, experienced and celebrated by men in every age to come as a community ritual of uncertain origins (perhaps a nuptial banquet, a religious rite, or something else).

This is followed by the kómos, a revelry based on wine, music, dancing and unbridled sex.

According to the most popular version, Ariadne will become the bride of the god, son of Zeus and Demeter.

In any case, Bacchus will make Ariadne immortal and give her a crown of stars.

■

Diónysos: tra mito e mistero¹

Risalire alle fonti bibliografiche ed elencarle in maniera, se non esaustiva, quantomeno esauriente è un’impresa ardua, praticamente impossibile.

Quindi ci si limita a citare, tra le tante, quella forse più nota e di matrice certa: l’VIII libro delle Metamorfosi di Ovidio², il quale dedica ai nostri protagonisti solo sette versi.

Di ben altro spessore documentale sono i riferimenti a Bacco – una divinità per certi versi anomala rispetto al Pantheon classico

– nel bellissimo libro che ha per titolo quello del presente capitolo, ricco di innumerevoli citazioni – curate da Gian Pietro Ghini in un capitolo dedicato – tratte da fonti letterarie classiche.

Oltre alle fonti scritte esistono numerosissimi riferimenti sul Web che, considerata la mole, si reputa inutile elencare.

Arianna, dunque: una mortale tradita nell’amore e abbandonata sull’isola greca di Nasso da un altro mortale, Teseo, eroe ateniese.

Uditi il pianto e i lamenti disperati, Bacco piomba sull’isola con i simposiasti, figure fantastiche al seguito del dio di ritorno dall’India (Thíasos).

Bacco apprezza la bellezza della giovane principessa cretese figlia di Minosse e di Pasifae e se ne innamora.

Inebriati dal vino e dalla musica, ben diversa da quella apollinea (Nietzsche)3, che secondo Platone nella Repubblica turbava gli animi, satiri o fauni in coro, menadi o baccanti, sileni, eroti festanti, Pan con pantere e leopardi, capri e asini al seguito affiancano il corteggio del dio ad Arianna, che avrà un lieto fine.

Il loro trionfo d’amore (Simposio dionisiaco o Baccanale) sarà ammirato, vissuto e celebrato dagli uomini in ogni epoca a venire come rituale comunitario dalle origini incerte (banchetto nuziale? religioso? altro ancora?).

A esso segue il kómos, ovvero la baldoria a base di vino, musica, danze e sesso sfrenato.

Secondo la versione più diffusa, Arianna diverrà sposa del dio, figlio di Giove e Demetra.

Comunque sia, Bacco renderà Arianna immortale e le donerà una corona di stelle.

■ TECHNICAL ANALYSIS (front and back)

It is a panel made entirely of terracotta that frames the sculpture.

As it is not perfectly rectangular, the work has the following measurements:

• orthogonal-median axes, 80 × 106 cm

• diagonals, 132.5 × 131.5 cm

• edge thickness, 5 cm

• weight, kg 40

■

ANALISI TECNICA (recto e verso)

Si tratta di un pannello interamente in terracotta entro il quale si inquadra la scultura. Non essendo perfettamente rettangolare, l’opera si presenta con le seguenti misure:

• assi ortogonali-mediani, cm 80 × 106

• diagonali, cm 132,5 × 131,5

• spessore del bordo cm 5

• peso, kg 40

■ Formal analisys

The whole scene is framed in the classical Graeco-Roman manner: a rhythmic series of ovules surmounted by a harmonious semi-circular double arch.

The groups of ovules (41) are about 30 mm high and 70 mm wide, interspersed with a swallow-tailed arrow with the cusp pointing inwards.

The whole is enclosed by a flat inner edge of about 8 mm and two outer edges. The first is rounded and is about 8 mm thick and the second, immediately behind it, is flat and about 5 mm thick.

Some figurative elements of the composition are definitely in high relief with small portions in the round, as we shall see later.

All the rest can be defined as a unique creation in bas-relief.

The polychromatic traces, mostly mauvegreen, yellow Siena, blue, light blue, red Ercolano, and purple with at least a dozen small yet visible gold dots, apparently made of gold leaf on all the elements of the composition – figures, plants and even on the frame – are very important.

On the reverse, there is an outer pseudo-frame with a raised parallelepiped shape and three vertical and two horizontal ribs forming a geometric whole in the form of a thick grid of twelve squares approximately 50 mm thick.

This technical solution ensures solidity and optimal support for the whole panel.

It is said that the panel was mounted on an iron frame at an unspecified time and was later removed from a wall under the portico of a patrician villa.

As a result of this removal, the panel (due to its heavy weight) was not adequately supported and fell to the ground, shattering into numerous pieces (12) – on the reverse side the junctions between the various fragments are evident