The Nymph Ino and the Infant Bacchus

Title/s

The Nymph Ino and the Infant Bacchus

Maker/s

Wyatt, Richard James (sculptor) [ULAN info: British sculptor, 1795-1850]

Category

sculpture

Name

figure group

School/Style

Neoclassical

Description

White marble, carved in the round, supported on a simulated grey granite pedestal, capped and footed with white marble.

Production Notes

The Nymph Ino and the Infant Bacchus was commissioned by Sir Robert Peel when he was in Rome in 1834. It was presumably this marble which Wyatt exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1836. Four further marbles, and possible a fifth, are known. The location of three of these is known, and it is therefore likely that this possible that his highly finished version was the original.

Production Place

Rome (sculptor) (place)

Italy (sculptor) (country)

English (sculptor) (nationality)

Technique Description

white marble, carved in the round, supported on a simulated grey granite pedestal, capped and footed with white marble

Dimensions

height: (whole): 130.2 cm

Period

19th century

Date

after 1834 to 1850

Provenance

bought: Christie's 1975 (Filtered for: Applied Arts collection)

Christie's, 17 October, 1974, Objects of Art and Victorian Furniture, Eastern Rugs and Carpets, lot 95, illustrated, pl. 7; Heim Gallery (London) Ltd., 59 Jermyn Street, St James's, London.

Bought with the Leverton Harris Fund and Cunliffe Fund with assistance from the University Purchase and Duplicate Objects Fund

Inscriptions/Marks

1. signature
   Method: incised
   Content: 'R.J. WYATT Fecit/ROME'
   

Documentation

1. Christie, Manson & Woods (1974) Objects of Art and Victorian Furniture, Eastern Rugs and Carpets, London: Christie, Manson & Woods [page: 17] 17 October 1974)
   [comments: Publ. p. 17, lot 95, illustrated pl. 7. Incorrectly identified as Semele and the Infant Bacchus]
2. Christie, Manson & Woods (1966) The Grittleton Marbles. The Property of Mrs J. Bourne (Née Miss Celia Kathleen Mary Neeld). Formerly the Collection of the late Captain L. W. Neeld of Kelston Park and Grittleton, London: Christie, Manson & Woods [page: 15] 22 September 1966)
   [comments: Cf. p. 15, lot 15, Ino and Bacchus, signed R.J. Wyatt fecit Romae. From the collection of the Earl of Kilmorey sold at Christie's on 17 June 1854 and bought by Henry Neeld on the advice of E.H. Baily. Bought by Winterstein.]

Other Notes

In Greek mythology Ino was the daughter of Cadmus King of Thebes, and the second wife of Athamas, King of Orchomenus. The couple took in the infant Dionysius (Bacchus), the son of Zeus and Semele who had been orphaned when his mother was bunt by a thunderbolt. In order to conceal him from Hera who was jealous of Zeus's love children, they dressed Dionysius as a girl, but the goddess discovered their deceit and punished them by making them insane.

Accession Number

M.1-1975 (Applied Arts)
(Reference Number: 31061; Input Date: 2001-06-25 / Last Edit: 2009-11-17)