Sculpted in Rome in 1496–1497 when Michelangelo was barely twenty-two, 'Bacchus' depicts the god of wine in a frank state of inebriation — grapes spilling from his lifted cup, his weight shifting off-balance, his gaze glassy — while a mischievous young satyr behind him steals grapes from the bunch in Bacchus's other hand. The sculpture revives ancient pagan sensuality with unprecedented frankness for a modern Christian artist, and its anatomical precision already foretells Michelangelo's 'David' two years later. Today it is one of the defining Renaissance sculptures of the Bargello in Florence.

Exhibition Venue

Bargello National Museum

Florence, Italy

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