Large oil painting on canvas signed Vera Willoughby and dated 1911, depicting a magnificent Bacchanal with a mythological subject. At the center of the composition appears the young Dionysus, crowned with ivy and armed with the traditional thyrsus, while leading a whirling procession of Maenads, Satyrs and Fauns immersed in the ecstatic dance typical of Dionysian rites. The scene is animated by a continuous succession of elegantly intertwined figures, draperies moved by the wind, musical instruments and animals sacred to the god, including two splendid leopards. The painting is striking for the extraordinary fluidity of the brushstroke, the refined chromatic harmony and the remarkable quality in the anatomical rendering of the nudes. Although created in 1911, the work reveals influences from the great baroque painting, in particular from Peter Paul Rubens, reinterpreted through a typically English symbolist and decorative sensibility.
Vera Willoughby (1870-1939), an important London artist present in the collections of the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, is best known for her illustrations and elegant orientalist compositions; this imposing Bacchanal instead represents one of the most significant testimonies of his classical production.
Painting of exceptional scenographic impact, ideal for the main hall of a historic residence, a prestigious villa, a professional studio or a private collection dedicated to symbolist and mythological painting. Small gilded wooden frame from the second half of the 20th century, beautifully decorated, with some signs of aging. Work already restored with relining, replacement of the frame and color recovery in small spots, overall in a good state of conservation. Light painting H 152 x W 198 cm.
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SILVER Seller in Cuneo, Italy
