Bacchus and Ariadne (1808–11): Art, History and Details

Bacchus and Ariadne (1808–11) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Henry Bone (British, 1755–1834); Titian (Italian, c. 1488–1576).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Henry Bone devoted three years to creating this work, a tremendous technical achievement and the largest enamel on copper that had ever been made. The painstaking process required each application of color to be fired at a different temperature in the kiln. The enamel exactly reproduces Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne (now in the National Gallery, London), an early sixteenth-century Italian masterpiece that had recently come into an English collection. The elaborate carved and gilded wood frame was specially designed for the work, an indication of the cultural value placed on great enamel reproductions of famous paintings. Bone was unable to show his masterwork at the annual Royal Academy exhibition in 1811 because the Prince of Wales had asked to see it. When the prince decided not to purchase it, Bone issued more than 4,000 tickets for visitors to view the work in his studio.

Object facts

• Title: Bacchus and Ariadne
• Date: 1808–11
• Creator attribution: Henry Bone (British, 1755–1834); Titian (Italian, c. 1488–1576)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: enamel, in original gilt-wood and gesso carved frame
• Dimensions: Unframed: 40.5 x 46 cm (15 15/16 x 18 1/8 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 2013.51

A detail from the museum

Henry Bone was known for his enamel paintings created through a laborious process of fusing painted glass to copper and firing at controlled temperatures.

Collection credit

Severance and Greta Millikin Trust

Further reading listed by the museum

• Neale, John Preston. Jones' Views of the Seats, Mansions, Castles, &C. of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and Other Picturesque Scenery: Accompanied with Historical Descriptions of the Mansions, Lists of Pictures, Statues, &C. and Genealogical Sketches of the Families and Their Possessors : Forming Part of the General Series of Jones' Great Britain Illustrated. London, United Kingdom: Jones & Co, 1829.
• The Annual Biography and Obituary for the Year 1934-1835 XX (1836): 40-49.
• Essex, Alfred. "Some Account of the Art of Painting in Enamel." The London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science X (1837): 442-453.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.