The Wine Press
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
Here, Silenus sits thoughtfully on a throne, wine cup in hand, accompanied by harvesters who carry and transfer grapes. The composition was invented by renowned painter Raphael, with whom engraver Marcantonio Raimondi had a long-standing collaborative relationship. The powerful poses of Silenus, the crouching man, and the statuesque woman can be traced to relief-carved Roman sarcophagi (stone coffins) probably known to Raphael. The print may record part of a now-lost painted bacchanalia image made by Raphael for the Duke of Ferrara’s palace in Italy. Bacchic subject matter showed the duke to be a cultured man who also gave a good party.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionSimilar works
Bacchus watching a man and woman and two children carrying baskets of grapes for the making of wine
The Vintage; a man pouring grapes from a basket into a vat, above Bacchus sitting, other figures at left
Bacchus watching a man and woman and two children carrying baskets of grapes for the making of wine
Apollo and Marsyas
Bacchanal with Satyrs and Bacchantes at a Wine Press
Lot and his daughters