Asmus Jacob Carstens and Joseph Anton Koch were among the German artists with whom Thorvaldsen associated during his first years in Rome. Carstens inspired him to produce a large number of variations on motifs centred on Cupid and Bacchus. This drawing shows some similarity with these works, but a boy satyr has assumed Cupid’s place and taken on the role of Bacchus as the one to pour the libation. Thorvaldsen did in fact copy several of Carstens’ drawings.
