In the case of Bacchus and Ariadne, the subject matter was derived from the Roman poets Catullus and Ovid, and perhaps other classical authors.

The other major paintings in the cycle are The Feast of the Gods, mostly by Giovanni Bellini, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C, and Titian's The Bacchanal of the Andrians and The Worship of Venus, both now in the Museo del Prado, Madrid.

The series was a very early treatment of subjects from classical mythology on a heroic scale in painting, rather than in small decorative pieces, and very influential on later works.

[3] Another option is that Titian was asked by his patron Alfonso I d’Este to create cheetahs inspired by Imagines of Philostratus.

The picture shows her initial fear of Bacchus, but he raised her to heaven and turned her into a constellation, represented by the stars above her head."

[6] But the satyr in Titian's painting is not in a mortal combat with the snakes, he is merely girding himself with them as is described in the original text by Catullus.

[7] The King Charles Spaniel that barks at the boy satyr is a common motif in Titian's work and was probably a court pet.

He placed the wine god at the fulcrum of the composition, with Ariadne on the left and his past love, Ampelos, front and centre to emphasize that the god’s role as divine vintager was made possible by this young satyr.” Titian’s depiction of the shaggy Silenus and of Ampelos both as a boy satyr and in the process of metamorphosing into a grapevine that wreathes the Silenus’ reed-pole may suggest that Nonnos’ Dionysiaca was also a source for the Bacchus and Ariadne.

[11] This has caused some critics to note that the expanse of blue sky on the left-hand side, one of the worst-affected areas of the painting, appears flat and pallid.

The National Gallery maintains that this was an unavoidable loss, because the accrued layers of later varnish had turned the painting brown and sludgy and had to be removed.

for I will fly to thee, Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards") and in "Lamia" ("Upon her crest she wore a wannish fire/Sprinkled with stars, like Ariadne's tiar").

Letitia Elizabeth Landon reviews this work in her poem "Bacchus and Ariadne", first published in 1822, as a "Dramatic Scene", being a dialogue between Leonardi and Alvine.

The painting was the basis for the cover of the 1993 album God Shuffled His Feet by rock band Crash Test Dummies.

The Indonesian composer Ananda Sukarlan has made a musical work for flute and piano, "Rescuing Ariadne" after being inspired by Titian's painting in the National Gallery of London.