Bacchus (1496–1497)[1] is a marble sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect and poet Michelangelo.

The statue is somewhat over life-size and represents Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, in a reeling pose suggestive of drunkenness.

Bacchus is depicted with rolling eyes, his staggering body almost teetering off the rocky outcrop on which he stands.

The inspiration for the work appears to be the description in Pliny the Elder's Natural History of a lost bronze sculpture by Praxiteles, depicting "Bacchus, Drunkenness and a satyr".

[2] The sense of precariousness resulting from a high centre of gravity can be found in a number of later works by the artist, most notably the David and the figures on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

It is possible the damage could have been due to natural causes; however, loss of the two body parts might also have been for the sake of an authentic archaeological appearance.

[5] The hand holding the goblet was broken off and the penis chiseled away before Maarten van Heemskerck saw the sculpture in the 1530s.

[6] Such a concession to "classical" sensibilities did not, however, convince Percy Bysshe Shelley of the work's fidelity to "the spirit and meaning of Bacchus".

This shows that Bacchus is intoxicated and gives the action of him either gently spilling his liquid creation upon humanity or more realistically upon the viewer who is gazing upon him.

In a letter, Cardinal Raffaele Riario asked Michelangelo if he was courageous enough to make his own work, instead of copying other masters.

After gazing upon the final product, Cardinal Raffaele Riario refused to accept the piece for he deemed it too sinful, a symbol of sexual desire.

[3] By 1506[12] the sculpture found its way to the collection of Jacopo Galli, banker to both the cardinal and Michelangelo, who had a similar garden near the Palazzo della Cancelleria.

So you must realize that I, too, have expenses and troubles...[3]1509...for twelve years now I have gone about all over Italy, leading a miserable life; I have borne every kind of humiliation, suffered every kind of hardship, worn myself to the bone... solely to help my family...[3]1512I live meanly...with the greatest toil and a thousand worries.

[14][15][16] The 1st Century bronze figure of Bacchus as a kid stands 40 cm (15.7 in) tall and was discovered in 1894 on the ruins of the Gallo-Roman settlement of Vertillum in eastern France.