Vase with Bacchantes, Late 18th century

The work belongs to the Neoclassical culture of the late 18th century, characterised by a renewed interest in antiquity and the reinterpretation of its decorative repertoire. Its form loosely recalls Roman cinerary urns, while the female figures, identifiable as Bacchantes, together with the ivy garlands and panther claws, refer to the iconography of Dionysus. The composition finds significant parallels in the antiquarian inventions of Giovanni Battista Piranesi and, above all, in the ornamental designs of Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, particularly his Suite des Vases of 1764, in which human figures and zoomorphic elements are integrated into the structure of the vessel. The sculptural exuberance and certain features of the figures, still rooted in the 16th-century tradition, nevertheless distinguish the work from a strictly Neoclassical interpretation. These characteristics suggest the hand of a sculptor active in Northern Italy, probably between Emilia and Lombardy, towards the end of the 18th century.