Allegorical Portrait of a Bacchante in an Oval Bust – 18th-century French School

This remarkable 18th-century (Louis XV / Louis XVI period) oval oil portrait embodies the elegance and refinement of classical and French Rococo art. Set in a sumptuous period frame of gilded wood, richly carved with ovals and plant motifs, the work depicts a young woman in the allegorical guise of a Bacchante or a priestess of Bacchus. Wearing a wreath of vine leaves and bunches of grapes, with her breast delicately revealed beneath an antique-style drape, she holds a stylised thyrsus in her right hand. The softness of her figure, the grace of her captivating gaze and the subtlety of the light and shadow attest to the great finesse of execution by a master of the period. This ancient mythological painting, of rare sensuality, is an exceptional collector’s piece, ideal for enhancing a prestigious classical interior or enriching a gallery specialising in Old Masters.