Dionysus between Ferrara and Modena: Revivals of the God of Wine and Music in the House of Este

In the context of the Renaissance revival of the Dionysian theme, the artistic production of Ferrara in the years of the duchy of Alfonso I d'Este (1505-1534) stands out for the quantity and quality of the works. Dionysius and his entourage are depicted in numerous paintings, among which emerge the famous 'bacchanalia' from the “Camerino delle Pitture”, the Duke’s personal studiolo and therefore the place of election for his self-representation. But the fortune of Dionysus in the Este sphere does not end with the death of Alfonso I. The god of wine is in fact the protagonist of both the frescoes in the “Camerino dei Baccanali” (Este’s Castle in Ferrara) of Alfonso II, last Duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597, and of the “Galleria di Bacco” in the Ducal Palace of Sassuolo (near Modena), realized by Jean Boulanger for Francesco I d’Este, Duke of Modena from 1629 to 1658. This paper will propose a comparison between these pictorial cycles, focusing on the evolution of the Dionysian musical iconography in the House of Este intended as a reflection of different personal approaches to the myth of Dionysus.