From this morning until May 12, Riojans and visitors can enjoy ‘Offering to Bacchus’ by Michel-Ange Houasse (Paris, 1680- Arpajón, 1730) at the Vivanco de Briones Museum, one of the great representatives of painting of the 18th century. The painting recreates a mythological scene in which a priest makes an offering to Bacchus, accompanied by fifteen other followers of the god of Wine, most of them in an obvious state of drunkenness. The protagonists of the canvas, who are still standing, direct their attention towards a Bacchus sculpted in stone, crowned with vine leaves and covered with bunches of grapes.
This painting, painted by Houasse in 1720, is displayed in room 4 of the Vivanco Museum thanks to the project ‘The art that connects’, promoted by the Prado Museum and Telefónica to commemorate the centenary of the latter company. An initiative that will take on tour through 18 municipalities throughout Spain as many great works from the collection of the Madrid art gallery with signatures by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Rubens and Van Dick among other great authors.
Vivanco is the only private museum to benefit from this initiative, and for it a work has been chosen in accordance with its content, linked to wine. ‘Offering to Bacchus’, usually exhibited in room 20 of the Prado, has been on display since this morning in Briones along with the rest of the artistic and cultural heritage of the Vivanco Museum. This painting, with dimensions of 125 x 180 cm, comes from the collection of Queen Isabel de Farnesio in the Palacio de La Granja.
This morning the director of the Vivanco Foundation, Santiago Vivanco, and his mother, Angélica, participated in the inauguration of his exhibition at the Vivanco Museum; the general coordinator of Prado Conservation, Víctor Cageao, and the territorial director of Telefónica, Manuel Ángel Alonso, among other authorities.
According to Santiago Vivanco, this is a “historic moment” for the Vivanco family, whose museum is precisely celebrating its first 20 years of existence after more than 50 years of collecting and passion for art, a work started by Pedro Vivanco and, above all, his woman, Angelica.
