Sick Bacchus (Self-Portrait as Bacchus)

Sick Bacchus is one of Caravaggio's earliest known works, painted this around 1593. The god of wine appears jaundiced and unwell, lips tinged with gray. Caravaggio used himself as the model, supposedly painting his reflection during recovery from an illness or injury.

The painting's title comes from the sickly appearance. Bacchus holds grapes and wears a vine crown, but his complexion suggests disease rather than divine vitality. Some scholars read the painting as an ironic self-portrait: the young artist mocking his own excess or commenting on the dangers of his bohemian lifestyle. It hangs in the Borghese Gallery.