1518
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
The Wine Press is a 1518 by Marcantonio Raimondi, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a crowd pressing grapes into wine while Silenus, the tipsy old god, lounges on a throne with his cup. This print was actually drawn by Raphael, not Raimondi. Raimondi just carved the lines into metal so the image could be printed again and again. The strong poses come straight from old Roman stone coffins—Raphael probably saw them in Rome. If you like the way light and shadow shape the bodies, look up *sfumato*.
Here, Silenus sits thoughtfully on a throne, wine cup in hand, accompanied by harvesters who carry and transfer grapes. The composition was invented by renowned painter Raphael, with whom engraver Marcantonio Raimondi had a long-standing collaborative relationship. The powerful poses of Silenus, the crouching man, and the statuesque woman can be traced to relief-carved Roman sarcophagi (stone coffins) probably known to Raphael. The print may record part of a now-lost painted bacchanalia image made by Raphael for the Duke of Ferrara’s palace in Italy. Bacchic subject matter showed the duke to…
Silenus, Bacchus's tutor, portrayed here watching the grape harvest with his wine cup, was known for his ability to drink wine straight from the barrel without mixing it with water (which was how mere mortals enjoyed the drink).
Read the full account in the museum source.
Marcantonio Raimondi, often called simply Marcantonio (c. 1470/82 – c. 1534), was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important printmaker whose body of work consists largely of prints copying paintings. He…
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