Drunken Silenus (the "Tazza Farnese")

Drunken Silenus (the "Tazza Farnese") — Annibale Carracci. c. 1597.

Medium: Engraving on ivory laid paper. Dimensions: Image in: Diam.: 32 cm (12 5/8 in.); Sheet: 42.7 × 32 cm (16 13/16 × 12 5/8 in.).

Collection record: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

Contemporary accounts described the slightly curved printing plate (Capodimonte Museum, Naples) for this Carracci engraving as an artwork and a vessel for drinking or serving wine: “More beautiful . . . is Silenos engraved on a silver salver for Cardinal Farnese.” A Roman gem from Farnese’s extensive collection likely supplied the image, while the plate’s shape mimicked ancient kylixes, such as this one (1889.118), which was incised with a delicate geometrical design while the clay was still wet. Greek black-glazed wares made of terracotta resembled more expensive metal counterparts, which might have been stamped and incised much like Carracci’s silver salver.

Description: © Art Institute of Chicago, original record, CC BY 4.0. HTML formatting removed; wording retained. Other artwork metadata: CC0.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.