This colorful history painting (also known as a poesie) is one of a cycle of mythological pictures based on classical texts which were commissioned by Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, for his Camerino d'Alabastro – a private chamber in his ducal palace in Ferrara. This work - a substitute for one by Raphael - was one of three provided by Titian between 1518 and 1525. The other two are Worship of Venus (1518-1519) and Bacchanal of the Andrians (1523-1525), both now in the Prado Museum, Madrid.
Derived from stories by the Roman poets Ovid and Catullus, this picture portrays the first encounter between Bacchus (god of wine), and Ariadne (daughter of King Minos), on the island of Naxos. Despite her vital role in helping Theseus to defeat the minotaur, Ariadne has been deserted by her lover, whose ship can be seen (far left of the picture) sailing away into the distance. As she watches the ship depart, her sorrow is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Bacchus and his unruly troupe of drunken friends, one of whom (a satyr) is waving aloft the head of an animal they have just killed (its head is lying on the ground). When the startled Ariadne turns to face the revelers, she sees Bacchus leaping from his chariot and their eyes meet: it is love at first sight. Bacchus leaps down from his chariot, drawn by two cheetahs, and declares his love. He promises to be a more faithful partner than Theseus and offers her a constellation of stars (Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown) as a wedding gift. Other versions have Bacchus raising her to heaven and transforming her into a constellation, represented by the eight stars above her.
Titian manages to extract the maximum amount of drama out of the story, mainly through the dynamic postures adopted by his two main actors. But equally important are their swirling draperies with their luminous blue and rose tones - Titian's two favorite colors. At any rate, the composition is filled with movement and color, as semi-naked figures writhe and cavort in poses taken from Greek sculpture of classical antiquity, such as the satyr who is struggling with snakes in a similar fashion to that shown in the Greek statue Laocoon and His Sons (c.125 BC). A diagonal dividing line separates the golds and greens of the landscape scene from the broad area of ultramarine blue (obtained by grinding the most expensive of all color pigments - the Afghanistan-mined lapis lazuli).
Bacchus and Ariadne (1522–1523) is an oil painting by Titian. It is one of a cycle of paintings on mythological subjects produced for Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, for the Camerino d'Alabastro – a private room in his palazzo in Ferrara decorated with paintings based on classical texts. An advance payment was given to Raphael, who originally held the commission for the subject of a Triumph of Bacchus. At the time of Raphael's death in 1520, only a preliminary drawing was completed and the commission was then handed to Titian. In the case of Bacchus and Ariadne, the subject matter was derived from the Roman poets Catullus and Ovid.
The painting, considered one of Titian's greatest works, now hangs in the National Gallery in London. The other major paintings in the cycle are The Feast of the Gods (mostly by Giovanni Bellini, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C), and Titian's The Bacchanal of the Andrians and The Worship of Venus (both now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid).
Ariadne has been left on the island of Naxos, deserted by her lover Theseus, whose ship sails away to the far left. She is discovered on the shore by the god Bacchus, leading a procession of revelers in a chariot drawn by two cheetahs (These were probably modelled on those in the Duke's menagerie and were tigers in Ovid's original text). Bacchus is depicted in mid-air as he leaps out of the chariot to protect Ariadne from these beasts. In the sky above the figure of Ariadne is the star constellation Corona Borealis (Northern crown). There are two possible variations of the story both going back to Ovid. In his Metamorphoses, Ovid has Bacchus throw the crown of Ariadne into the sky where it becomes the constellation Northern Crown. In Ars Amatoria, Bacchus promises the entire sky to Ariadne where she then would become the constellation Northern Crown. The National Gallery's website states that in the painting, 'Bacchus, god of wine, emerges with his followers from the landscape to the right. Falling in love with Ariadne on first sight, he leaps from his chariot, drawn by two cheetahs, towards her. Ariadne had been abandoned on the Greek island of Naxos by Theseus, whose ship is shown in the distance. The picture shows her initial fear of Bacchus, but he raised her to heaven and turned her into a constellation, represented by the stars above her head.'
The composition is divided diagonally into two triangles, one of blue sky (using the expensive ultramarine pigment) and still but for the two lovers caught in movement, the other a riot of movement and predominantly green/brown in colour. The follower of Bacchus who struggles with a snake is sometimes falsely associated with the antique sculpture of Laocoön and His Sons who had been killed by snakes. This statue had recently been discovered in Rome. But the satyr in Titian's painting is not in a mortal combat with the snakes, he is merely girding himself with them as is described in the original text by Catullus. The King Charles Spaniel that barks at the boy satyr is a common motif in Titian's work and was probably a court pet. The gold urn inscribed with the artist's signature (TICIANVS) may also have been familiar to the Duke as one of the antiquities in his collection.
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