Bacchus and Ceres

Pietro della Vecchia's Bacchus and Ceres treats the ancient saying sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus — without food and wine, love grows cold — a subject popular in Baroque allegorical painting. Della Vecchia was known for his ability to pastiche earlier Venetian styles while embedding contemporary sensibilities, and mythological subjects gave him scope for warm, sensuous colour. The pairing of the harvest goddess and the wine god was a natural subject for celebrating abundance and pleasure.

The figures of Bacchus and Ceres are rendered with warm, glowing flesh tones set against a landscape background. Della Vecchia employs a high-keyed golden palette typical of his mythological works. The loose, confident brushwork and relaxed poses convey the ease and abundance the subject demands.