The life-size nude, depicting the joyous, fluid movement of a woman (a "bacchante") celebrating while holding an infant, was exhibited at the 1894 Paris Salon to great acclaim.

MacMonnies gifted this original casting to his friend, architect Charles Follen McKim, whose firm was building Boston's new public library in Copley Square.

[1]: 30–31 Shortly after the appearance of Bacchante at the 1894 Salon, France attempted to purchase the original casting for its national art collection, the first time an American sculptor was accorded this honor.

Lionskin drapery and trailing vines were added to the side of the figure, to strengthen the stone, which has less tensile strength than bronze metal.

[1]: 38 Other large bronze copies reside at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston,[citation needed] and at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.

[1]: 42–44  In 1915, artist John Sloan produced the etching Mars and Venus, portraying the Roman god of war as a New York cop, and a drunken bacchante leaning for support on a US Post Office mailbox.