Lot 27

Robert Compton Jones

Pittoni completed a number of compositions on this subject, this particular composition is known as the version de Stuttgart, after the painting held in the collection of the Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany. Another version of this composition by the artist can also be found in the Sao Paulo Museum, inventory no. 5962

In an Arcadian setting, Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus, is approached by Bacchus with his court of Satyrs and drunken followers dancing to the sound of fipple, flutes and tambourines. The skin beneath his red cloak alludes to the cheetahs that usually draw his chariot, while Ariadne's crown is the crown which the god cast into the sky in order to turn her into a constellation.