stucco panel depicting "THE TRIUMPH OF ARIANE AND BACCHUS"

Stucco panel depicting "THE TRIUMPH OF ARIANE AND BACCHUS"
1rst half 19th century

This bas-relief is a free interpretation of the mythological subject taken from Ovid's Metaphors representing the triumph of Ariane and Bacchus.
The central scene represents Bacchus and Ariadne on their chariot decorated with vine leaves, pulled by two lions held on a leash by a maenad, a winged putti playing a trumpet is seated on the drawbar.
Two groups frame this scene, on the right a group of three children playing the trumpet, the one in the middle wearing a ribboned crown. On the left, two children wear a garland and crown of flowers held by two thyrsos followed by two maenads carrying a reed branch.

Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, is abandoned by Theseus, King of Athens on the island of Naxos, who comes to kill the Minotaur in the labyrinth of Crete built by Daedalus for King Minos.
Following this abandonment, she becomes the companion of Bacchus and participates in his triumph sitting at his side on a chariot pulled by lions and stretching out her arm in the direction where Theseus disappeared.
The ancient theme par excellence of God and his procession, the triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne was taken up by the greatest painters, such as Carracci, Titian, and is taken up again in the neo-classical era. The Wedgwood factory takes up this theme on its plates intended to adorn the furniture of the most prestigious French cabinetmakers of the late 18th century.