This is Palmer’s fifth etching. Both compositions illustrate a song from Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra which celebrates Bacchus, the Ancient Greek god of wine. Bacchus is shown approaching in a blaze of light in the upper illustration. In the lower image naked boys gather grapes from an ancient vine.
The Vine 1851-2 by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881). Etching
In this 1852 impression of a state 4 of 4 etching there are two images the upper of which shows several partially clad youths in a woodland glade. To left, a youth lies senseless, attended by a second figure of indeterminate sex. The others hail the approach of Bacchus who approaches in a blaze of light. The lower image consists of a group of young naked boys gathering grapes from an ancient vine.
Both images illustrate a song from Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra Act Two, Scene Seven, which celebrates Bacchus, the Ancient Greek god of wine: Come, thou monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchus, with pink eyne! In thy vats our cares be drown’d; with thy grapes our hairs be crown’d; cup us, till the world go round: cup us, till the world go round: These etchings were published in Songs and Ballads of Shakespeare illustrated by the Etching Club, 1853. This is Palmer’s fifth etching.
Samuel Palmer is considered to be one of Britain’s most original artists, and a key figure in the Romantic movement.
There are these inscriptions on the exhibit:
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery collection, bequest of Emily and Gordon Bottomley 1949
Image © Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
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