Luigi Valadier (1726–1785)
Bacchus and Ariadne, 1780–85
Alabastro d’Orta, bronze and gilt bronze, ancient intaglios and cameos, crystal, ancient glass paste, sculpted fragments
21 5/8 × 19 3/4 × 5 7/8 in. (55 × 50 × 15 cm);
cameo only, 6 3/4 × 9 7/8 in. (17 × 25 cm)
Musée du Louvre, Paris
© RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY
The cameo of Bacchus and Ariadne had also belonged to Cardinal Carpegna, like The Triumph of Bacchus. Made of glass, and not stone, it is an exceedingly rare object. Valadier conceived for it a grand frame into which he inserted small cameos and ancient fragments. One of the two bronze goats at the top is ancient, while the other was created by Valadier to match it.