This beautiful, large, and delightful painting depicts a procession of mythical characters in an idyllic Mediterranean landscape, executed in a dynamic, airy, and gentle manner by a leading late nineteenth and early twentieth century artist.
It is by Ferdinand Leeke, a German artist (1859-1923) best known for his paintings of scenes from operas by Wagner completed between 1889 and 1898, which were commissioned by Wagner's son himself. He is also known as a history painter and a painter of scenes from Classical myth. His exact style is hard to classify: he is not a standard German Romantic painter, and there is a by-no-means faint echo of Victorian styles in his work; he must have been affected by the work of groups such as the English Pre-Raphaelites.
The scene here is that of the Triumph of Bacchus. The god is carried by his entourage, with Ariadne pressed against him, on a throne pulled by lions, while his party of Maenads and other worshippers dance and make music in a triumphal procession of joy and peaceful delight. To the right, some of his group flock to a gleaming white marble state of the goddess Venus, while the landscape drows away in the background to open up to the Mediterranean sea, with a temple on the left and a woodland grove on the right. The painterly quality is remarkably light and free, the exuberance of the scene matched by the artist's own style. The soft touch and gentle use of mythical subjects make it a particulary charming painting, full of care-free Classical inspired reverly and delight.
It is executed in oil-on-canvas, and mounted in a giltwood frame. Signed, situated and dated lower left 'Ferdinand Leeke / München 1918'
Frame: height 175cm, width 227cm, depth 10cm
Canvas: height 148cm, width 200cm, depth 3cm