Bacchus and Ariadne

Ceiling of the Egyptian Hall

Louis Chéron, c. 1695

oil on plaster 4.54 x 8.8m

The subject, from Ovid's Metamorphoses, book viii, lines 176 - 82,shows the Wedding Procession of Bacchus and Ariadne, the daughter ofKing Minos of Crete, whom he rescued on the island of Naxos.Ariadne's crown of stars is a reference to the constellation whichwas formed by Bacchus when he flung Ariadne's jewelled crown into theheavens. Although there are three drawings of Bacchic revels inChérons albums at the British Museum (Croft Murray and Hulton,1960, 5 (37) recto and verso, (38), all three are set in a pastorallandscape and are therefore unlikely to be preparatory sketches forthis ceiling.

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