Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Table fountain with Neptune and the sea voyage of Bacchus
Melchior Gelb German
Not on view
The fountain with Bacchus and Neptune was used to mix wine and water. Wine poured into the vat on Bacchus’s head flowed through his body and into the small cask he straddles. From there it was released into the water-filled shell-shaped bowl with a lobster and Nereid. The other, more technologically ambitious fountain likely produced jets of water through air pressure, typical of a model first designed by the Greek mathematician and engineer Heron of Alexandria (1st century a.d.). Placed on the table, a fountain like this would mesmerize guests with its mysterious technology, known only to humanists and goldsmiths.
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