2-723-354 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Bacchanales: The Satyr's Dance , 1763. Fragonard created these charming etchings shortly after returning from Italy, where he encountered similar Roman antiquities. Satyrs and nymphs frolic in this suite of playfully erotic scenes, which he conceived as low-relief sculptures on stone fragments nestled in the foliage of country gardens. The abundant vegetation—as well as the satyr and human children—symbolizes the wild fecundity of nature.