Oil Lamp in the Shape of Silenus Straddling a Wine-Skin

Andrea Riccio (Italian, 1470-1532) (?) (Artist)

1st half 16th century (Renaissance)

bronze, the wineskin originally plated with silver
(Renaissance Europe )

This oil lamp is in the shape of Silenus, the Greco-Roman god of drunkeness and tutor to the wine god Bacchus, sitting on an inflated oxhide that is serving as a large wine-skin. He reaches back and holds the ox's tail thus creating a handle for the lamp. The child, Bacchus, holds up a bunch of grapes to him. This is the sort of humorous interpretation of an ancient myth that was very popular in the circle of classical scholars in the university city of Padua in the early 1500s. The subject and the execution, although rough, are generally characteristic of Riccio, but the specific attribution of the piece to the master has not been pursued. See 54.234 for a statuette that is universally accepted as one of Riccio's masterpieces.

Provenance

**Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.**

Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Exhibitions

1963-1965

The Mannerists. Fort Wayne Art Museum, Indiana, Fort Wayne; Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
11/1/1958	Treatment	cleaned
1/9/1967	Treatment	cleaned
8/24/1977	Examination	examined for condition
8/24/1977	Treatment	cleaned
4/1/1989	Examination	examined for survey

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Geographies

Italy, Padua (Place of Origin)

Measurements

H: 3 11/16 × W: 6 1/4 × D: 2 13/16 in. (9.3 × 15.9 × 7.2 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

54.37

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