Bacchus and Ariadne

The Venetian decorative painter Sebastiano Ricci created this painting for Lord Burlington’s central London property, Burlington House. It was moved to Chiswick when the new house was completed. The frame, designed by William Kent, is inscribed with the date 1729. The painting shows the moment in Classical mythology when Bacchus, god of wine, discovers Ariadne on the Greek island of Naxos, where she has been abandoned by Theseus.