Description
Young Sick Bacchus is one of Caravaggio’s earliest self-portraits, painted around 1593–1594: a young man with a wreath of ivy in his dark curls turns to us over his bare shoulder, holding a bunch of white grapes beside his chin. The original, oil on canvas, is 67 cm high and 53 cm wide and belongs to the Galleria Borghese in Rome. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oils on canvas, in 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 160 x 200 cm or made to measure, and you see a photograph of the finished work before it leaves us.
| Title: | Young Sick Bacchus |
| Other titles: | Bacchino malato · Der kranke Bacchus |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) |
| Year painted: | c. 1593–1594 |
| Original size: | 67 cm x 53 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, tenebrism |
| Located at: | Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Young Sick Bacchus – Caravaggio
What does Young Sick Bacchus show?
On a small upright canvas sits a young man dressed up as the god of wine. He shows us his back and a bare shoulder, but has turned his head round to look us straight in the eye.
In his black curls he wears a wreath of ivy. Most of the leaves are dark green; a few have already turned yellow. A white cloth wound round his hips is held by a dark, brownish-violet sash tied in a bow, and his raised hand grips a bunch of pale, almost translucent grapes.
Across the whole width of the canvas runs a grey stone ledge. On it lie two yellow peaches, behind them a bunch of black grapes, and a vine leaf hangs over the edge. Behind him is plain dark brown, lit from the left.
Why is this Bacchus sick?
Bacchus is the Roman god of wine and merriment; Caravaggio gives us an unusual one: the skin is sallow, greenish, almost waxen, the lips are colourless and the gaze is tired. That is why the work became known as the sick Bacchus.
According to Giovanni Baglione, Caravaggio’s first biographer, the painter sat as his own model here, watching himself in a mirror. The picture dates from his first years in Rome, after he arrived from his native Milan in mid-1592. Early sources agree that the young painter fell gravely ill and spent months in the hospital of Santa Maria della Consolazione. Some doctors have read the greenish skin as a sign of that illness, though nobody knows for sure.
Why is the work so well known?
Because it is one of Caravaggio’s first self-portraits, and on a small surface it sets out almost everything the young painter could already do. There is a portrait with the face in three-quarter view, a still life of fruit, and a god from ancient myth.
The face is not flattered. The head is tilted, the smile is more grimace than joy, and the muscles of back and arm are tense and painted without softening. Here you can see the influence of his teacher Simone Peterzano and of the Lombard school, with its close attention to real detail.
Even the fruit on the ledge is no longer quite fresh. Set it beside the plump fruit in Boy with a Basket of Fruit and the difference is plain; Wikipedia links it to the painter’s improved health. The English Wikipedia article tells the whole story.
Where is the original, and how did it reach the Borghese collection?
The original is owned by the Galleria Borghese in Rome, where it is recorded under inventory number 534.
Its first known owner was Giuseppe Cesari, the painter known as the Cavalier d’Arpino, for whom Caravaggio worked in his first Roman years. In 1607 Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the pope’s nephew, seized that collection, and with it this Bacchus, a version of the Boy Peeling Fruit and the Boy with a Basket of Fruit.
Young Sick Bacchus or another Caravaggio?
Young Sick Bacchus is a canvas painting for people drawn more to a real human face than to smooth beauty. Small and personal, it sits well in a study, by bookshelves or in a dining room.
Do not confuse it with the larger, later Bacchus in Florence. In Bacchus, owned by the Uffizi, the young god reclines healthy and flushed at a table and holds out a glass of wine; here he sits alone and pale.
If a young man lost in himself appeals to you, look at Narcissus, who bends over the water towards his own reflection. Earlier still is Boy Peeling Fruit, thought to be Caravaggio’s earliest known work. All the famous Caravaggio paintings we paint to order are collected on our Caravaggio page.
How does our painter paint Young Sick Bacchus?
We start when your order comes in. Over a dark, warm ground and a brush drawing of the figure, the paint goes on in thin layers, from shadows to lights. The hardest part is the skin: it must not turn pink, but keep that pale, olive-greenish tone that gives the painting its name. The grapes, too, must stay half-translucent so that light glows through their skins.
Last come the velvety peaches and the rough grey stone. The result is a Caravaggio reproduction with a real, layered surface on which brushstrokes show in side light. As an oil painting reproduction with a dark ground, it likes side light.
Which size suits your wall?
In short: 40 x 49 or 48 x 60 cm for a shelf or a bedside table, 61 x 80 or 68 x 90 cm above a chest of drawers or in a dining room, 90 x 110 or 110 x 145 cm above a sofa, and 126 x 160 or 160 x 200 cm for a large empty wall or a stairwell.
We paint Young Sick Bacchus in 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 40 x 49, 48 x 60, 61 x 80, 68 x 90, 90 x 110, 110 x 145, 126 x 160 and 160 x 200 cm. The original is 53 cm wide and 67 cm high. Closest to it is 48 x 60 cm, 5 cm narrower and 7 cm shorter; 61 x 80 cm is already 8 cm wider and 13 cm taller.
Because Caravaggio’s canvas is small, our larger sizes go well beyond it: at 160 x 200 cm the painting is about three times as wide as the original. As a painting for the living room it is most convincing at 90 x 110 or 110 x 145 cm, where face and grapes read clearly from the far side of the room.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. If your wall calls for different proportions, we adapt the composition so that the wreathed head, the arm with the grapes and the fruit on the ledge all stay whole. The look over the shoulder survives the change too. Tell us what size you would like, and we will reply with a price and a lead time.
It can travel rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or already framed. Stretching and framing are handled by our workshop in Slovenia. You pick the moulding in our 3D app, which is used only for choosing the frame; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A plain dark walnut frame suits the dark background.
When will it arrive, and how does it travel?
The painter starts as soon as you confirm your order, and the painting is ready to ship in 15 to 45 working days. Before we pack it we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like a change, we make it before dispatch. Deliveries within Slovenia and to other EU countries carry no customs charges, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
Young Sick Bacchus makes an unusual gift for a lover of art history or an art student. If you are unsure which size they would like, give a wall art voucher and let them choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the original hang?
In the Galleria Borghese in Rome, which lists it under inventory number 534.
What is the young man holding?
A bunch of pale white grapes, which he raises almost to his chin.
Is it a print?
No. It is a hand-painted copy: every brushstroke on the canvas is laid down by our painter.
How big is Caravaggio’s own canvas?
The canvas measures 67 cm in height and 53 cm in width; our nearest size is 48 x 60 cm.
Why is Bacchus said to be sick?
Because of his sallow, greenish skin and colourless lips; the sources say the painter was seriously ill at the time.
Would it suit a bedroom or a home office?
Yes; small and intimate, it suits a desk corner or a bedroom wall.
Could you paint it in a size missing from your list?
Of course. Send us the width and height you want, and we will tell you the price and the completion time.
How long does it take to make?
15 to 45 working days; the photograph of your finished Bacchus reaches you before dispatch.
- Subject: an ivy-crowned young man in a white cloth turns to us over his bare shoulder, white grapes in hand; peaches and black grapes in front.
- Original: c. 1593–1594, oil on canvas, 67 x 53 cm, Galleria Borghese, Rome.
- Ours: hand-painted in oils on canvas, 8 portrait sizes from 40 x 49 to 160 x 200 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: according to Baglione, Caravaggio painted himself here with the help of a mirror; he was in his early twenties.
