After months (nay, years!) of conservation TLC, Bacchus is looking like a new man! He’s still his old composite self, but he “cleans up real nice” and looks fantastic with his new right arm. He’s got NCMA Objects Conservator Corey Smith Riley and multimedia artist Larry Heyda, of Lawrence Heyda Studios, to thank for his dashing new looks. Thanks to NCMA Videographer Luke Mehaffie, who documented every minute of the whole process, you can see Bacchus transform before your eyes in this video presented in the exhibition The Bacchus Conservation Project: The Story of a Sculpture, on view until January 31, 2021.
Caroline Rocheleau is director of research and curator of ancient art at the NCMA.
B is for Bacchus … and Basketball
The Bacchus group is teaming up with Hillsborough artist Larry Heyda to create a new arm for the statue. He needed a rather unusual model.
Bacchus 2.0
Recent marble analysis of a composite sculpture of the Roman god of wine has led the NCMA to abruptly change its plans for this unusual artifact. Curator of Ancient Art Caroline Rocheleau explains.
Bacchus Gets a Scientific Checkup
The Bacchus Conservation Project continues with an engineering analysis and marble sampling.