The Feast of Bacchus (Koninck)

The painting is by the mid-17th-century Dutch painter, Philips Koninck, who worked in Amsterdam and is known for his landscapes and portraits. He may have been a student of Rembrandt.{{sfnp|Blankert|1978|p=74}} Koninck signed and dated the painting "P. Koning: 1654". It was painted for Jacob Faes (1621–1661), a wealthy Amsterdam merchant.{{sfnp|Blankert|1978|p=75}} The Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel wrote a short poem, "On the Triumph of Bacchus, for Jacob Faes by Philips Koninck", about it in 1654.{{cite book |title=Lust tot poëzie: Op De triomf van Bacchus, geschilderd voor de heer Jacob Faes door Philips Koninck |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/vond001lust01_01/vond001lust01_01_0030.php |publisher=Digital Library for Dutch Literature, DBNL |language=nl |date=1989 }} The painting was sold at auction in 1783.{{sfnp|Blankert|1978|p=75}}{{sfnp|Gerson|1980|p=118}} It was later acquired by the art collector Abraham Bredius, who gave it to the Museum Bredius in 1925.{{sfnp|Blankert|1978|p=75}}

Highlighted in the center of the painting is a burly, shirtless man sitting on a wine barrel. He is holding a glass high in the air and is adorned with grape vines, an allusion to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. There are thirteen people surrounding him. On the right, a person is playing music, while another wears a high hat and stands next to a donkey.{{sfnp|Gerson|1980|pp=50–51}} Another has a Dutch white clay tobacco pipe in his high hat. The painting shows them celebrating, as if at a Bacchanalia.{{cite web |title=The Feast of Bacchus, 1654 |url=https://www.mediastorehouse.co.uk/fine-art-finder/artists/dick-ket/feast-bacchus-1654-22684034.html |publisher=Media Storehouse |quote=Set in the countryside, this Dutch masterpiece captures the essence of a bacchanalian celebration with its depiction of peasants reveling in their merriment.}}

It has been thought to represent the five senses. In the 1928 Museum Bredius catalog by F. Julius Oppenheim, it was listed as Honor to Bacchus: An Allegory of the Five Senses.{{cite web |title=Honor to Bacchus: An Allegory of the Five Senses |url=https://library.frick.org/permalink/01NYA_INST/1qqhid8/alma991000253049707141 |publisher=Frick Collection |date=1928}} However, art historian Horst Gerson wrote that the painting more likely depicted an Amsterdam Guild of Saint Luke festival.{{sfnp|Gerson|1980|loc=p. 51, footnote 104}} He noted that Koninck attended the festival on October 21, 1654.{{sfnp|Gerson|1980|p=86}} Gerson also described the painting as resembling the work of the Dutch artist Jan Steen and even Hieronymus Bosch.{{sfnp|Gerson|1980|p=51}} Art historian Willem R. Juynboll thought that the painting possibly depicted a celebration of the Bentvueghels, a society of Dutch and Flemish artists living in Rome.{{sfnp|Blankert|1978|p=75}}{{cite book |last1=Juynboll |first1=W. R. |title=Het komische genre in de Italiaansche schilderkunst gedurende de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw |date=1934 |publisher=Leidsche Uitgeversmaatschappij |location=Leiden |page=167 |url={{GBurl|Nc4ExQEACAAJ}}|language=nl}} It may also depict a Chamber of Rhetoric meeting, similar to several paintings by Steen or one attributed to Hendrik Gerritsz Pot, which showed a dispute among the "poets of Bacchus".{{cite journal |last1=Heppner |first1=Albert |title=The Popular Theatre of the Rederijkers in the Work of Jan Steen and His Contemporaries |journal=Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes |date=October 1939 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=22–48 |publisher=Warburg Institute |location=London |doi=10.2307/750189|jstor=750189 }}

File:Philips Koninck - The Feast of Bacchus - crop.jpg

The painting went viral after the NFL Divisional playoff game played between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills on January 21, 2024.{{cite web |last1=Edholm |first1=Eric |title=NFL playoffs: What We Learned from Chiefs' win over Bills in AFC Divisional Round |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/2023-nfl-playoffs-what-we-learned-chiefs-bills-divisional-round |publisher=National Football League |date=January 21, 2024}} The National Football League contacted LJ Rader of ArtButMakeItSports to see if a photo of Jason Kelce celebrating a touchdown by his brother Travis Kelce could be paired with an appropriate art work.{{Cite tweet |author=NFL |user=NFL |number=1749234906046333439|date=January 21, 2024 |title=what say you, @ArtButSports?}} Rader posted a photo by Kathryn Riley with a cropped mirrored version of the painting, a pairing of shirtless celebrations.{{cite news |last1=Cacciola |first1=Scott |title=You Saw Jason Kelce. This Guy Saw The Feast of Bacchus. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/style/art-but-sports.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 26, 2024 |quote=When searching for the perfect painting to pair up with a viral image of Jason Kelce, LJ Rader knew the subject would have to be shirtless. "The Feast of Bacchus" by Philips Koninck met the criterion.}}{{Cite tweet |author=kathryn riley |user=k__h__r |number=1749239527493808197|date=January 21, 2024 |title=now I've truly peaked}}{{Cite tweet |author=ArtButMakeItSports |user=ArtButSports |number=1749238724003570024 |date=January 21, 2024 |title=The Feast Of Bacchus, by Phillips de Koninck, 1654}} It has been viewed over 8 million times.

• 1654 in art
• Feast of the Gods – art subject
• The Triumph of Bacchus – by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez in 1629

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Blankert |first1=Albert |author-link1=Albert Blankert |title=Museum Bredius: Catalogus van de schilderijen en tekeningen |trans-title=Catalog of paintings and drawings |url={{GBurl|TbpIAQAAIAAJ}} |date=1978 |language=nl |publisher=Museum Bredius |location=The Hague}}
• {{cite book |last1=Gerson |first1=Horst |author-link1=Horst Gerson |title=Philips Koninck: ein Beitrag zur Erforschung der holländischen Malerei des XVII. Jahrhunderts |url={{GBurl|JjNHAQAAIAAJ}} |date=1980 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-3-7861-1284-6 |language=de |publisher={{ill|Gebr. Mann|de|Gebr. Mann Verlag}} |location=Berlin |orig-date=1st ed. 1936}}

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• {{cite book |last1=Luijten |first1=Hans |first2=Jan |last2=Konst |title=Lust tot poezie: Joost van den Vondel |date=1989 |publisher=Querido |location=Amsterdam |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/vond001lust01_01/vond001lust01_01.pdf |chapter=Op De triomf van Bacchus, geschilderd voor de heer Jacob Faes door Philips Koninck |chapter-url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/vond001lust01_01/vond001lust01_01.pdf#page=49 |pages=54–55 |language=nl}}
• {{cite book |last1=Knuttel Wzn |first1=G. |title=Nieuwe aanwinsten van het Bredius Museum |date=1925 |pages=218–222 |language=nl}}
• {{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Bryan |title=Jason Kelce shirtless celebration: Learn more about 'Art But Make It Sports' X account behind viral tweet |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/jason-kelce-shirtless-celebration-art-make-it-sports/a5a843d4c1f613c6ba8f70fe |work=The Sporting News |date=January 22, 2024}}

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Category:Paintings by Philips Koninck

Category:1654 paintings

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