Italian painter Giorgio Vasari painted the Triumph of Bacchus in the late 1560s and early 1570s. Sketches of this painting are kept in the Louvre in Paris and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. In Russia Vasari’s works are practically absent, so the Triumph of Bacchus is a valuable exhibit of the collection of the Radishchev Museum.

In the painting Vasari depicted a bacchanalia - a holiday in honor of the god of winemaking Bacchus. The artist depicted the god in the center, and thus divided the composition into two parts. On the left he placed young bacchantes - constant companions and admirers of the god. On the right there are the figures of Silenus, the tutor of Bacchus, and an old bacchante. With his right hand Bacchus hugs a little Satire.

In addition to paintings, Vasari designed buildings and wrote scientific works. In 1550 he compiled the Biography - a collection of 178 biographies of Italian artists. For this work he is considered the founder of history of art. However for Vasari painting was more important than literature.

Vasari worked at the court of the Medici family. They were the main patrons of Italian artists at that time. It is possible that Vasari created the Triumph of Bacchus on their order.

For a long time the image was kept in the family of Florentine bankers Gerini. In the 19th century, their collection was sold at an auction. The Triumph of Bacchus came to Russia in 1850. The Imperial Hermitage in St. Petersburg acquired it from the artist August Ribela. In 1885 the painting was transferred to the Radishchev Museum in Saratov.