Fan - The Triumph of Bacchus

The leaf is framed by Oriental-style scallop and cloud motifs delicately painted in gold on a brown ground, by garlands of leaves and by green vine leaves. In a wooded setting, in the middle, the child Bacchus sits on a rock with one hand resting on his hip. The other hand holds a long staff. From the right a kneeling, winged putto offers a basket full of fruit. Around them are children riding on rams, drinking, making music, and dancing, with a child-faun among them. In the background is the ruin of a classical temple. The verso is framed by coloured chinoiserie floral ornamentation contoured and patterned in gold. It is interrupted in three places by devices referring to music, architecture and painting, and in two places by butterflies. In the middle of the leaf is an allegory of the Art of Drawing: a child standing upright holds a large piece of paper in front of two seated children, one of whom points to it on this a figure standing upright can be seen holding a large piece of paper in front of two seated children, one of whom is pointing to it. The uppermost section of the sticks, that directly below the bottom part of the leaf, is embellished with scallop shapes. The upper third exhibits pierced tendril ornamentation, with the fourth stick from both left and right concealing a dragon-like monster. Above this (on the shell shapes) and below the sticks are filled out by painted apricot branches in blossom. The pierced tendril ornamentation is repeated on the guard-sticks. When the fan is fully closed, the bottommost parts of the sticks present a scalloped pattern. The supposed original for the depiction is not yet known.