Frederick W. MacMonnies (American, 1863–1937)
Cast by Jaboeuf et Rouard
Paris, France
Bacchante with Infant Faun
INV-1026
Frederick W. MacMonnies (American, 1863–1937)
Cast by Jaboeuf et Rouard
Paris, FranceModeled 1894, cast after 1894
Bacchante with Infant Faun
Frederick W. MacMonnies (American, 1863–1937) Cast by Jaboeuf et Rouard Paris, France →Realismsculptureamerican arts
Date
Modeled 1894, cast after 1894
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
H.: 86.3 cm (34 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by the Brooks and Hope B. McCormick Foundation
As one of the nation’s most important sculptors of the Gilded Age, Frederick William MacMonnies garnered many public and private commissions at the turn of the 20th century. Bacchante with Infant Faun, however, was not created on commission. Instead, MacMonnies gave the life-size version of the bronze to his friend the architect Charles McKim. The sculpture was soon at the center of a public scandal when McKim attempted to give it to the new Boston Public Library. Some among Boston’s elite chafed at the mythical figure’s nudity and her drunken dance. MacMonnies’s naturalistic modeling—bones, muscles, and even teeth convincingly rendered—challenged Victorian sensibilities. McKim eventually gave the statue to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bronze reductions, such as this one, nevertheless remained popular with the public.
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