372 - Franciszek Smuglewicz

Franciszek Smuglewicz 1745-1807 The Birth of Bacchus Adaptation by Marco Carloni Watercolor on paper 32 x 42.5 cm, with frame 55.5 x 64 cm Inscribed at the bottom left and in the center Franciszek Smuglewicz is considered one of the leading figures of Classicism in Poland and Lithuania. His training and his long stay in Rome shaped his intense engagement with ancient art and mythological themes. Together with Vincenzo Brenna, he produced drawings based on ancient Roman wall paintings, which Marco Carloni then translated into prints for the illustrated volume *Vestigia delle Terme di Tito e loro interne pitture*. The watercolor depicts the childhood story of the ancient god of wine. Bacchus, the Greek Dionysus, was the son of Jupiter and the mortal Semele. When she demanded to see Jupiter in his divine form, she was consumed by his lightning bolts. Jupiter saved the unborn child and concealed it in his thigh, from which it was later born. Bacchus was then entrusted to the care of nymphs. The depiction is set within a bluish-washed, grisaille-like frame with four red-ground corner medallions. Between two Ionic columns and in front of a curtain, a half-naked woman reclines on a cushioned kline. A companion approaching from the left extends her hand to the woman, while the woman turns to her right toward a man who is holding out a flat object—possibly a bowl or a mirror. At her feet, a woman kneels with a child in her arms; next to her stand a small washbasin and a krater. The vessels and the caring gestures suggest the care of a newborn and the tending to a woman in childbirth. The scene thus captures the theme in the vivid form of an ancient-style birth scene, without explicitly depicting the dramatic events of the myth. Blue accents within the figures echo the color scheme of the ornamental frame, while the red background establishes a connection to the corner medallions. The clear architectural structure and the decorative border reflect the Classicist interest in the visual world of ancient wall paintings.