Focus on this artwork and explore the Interpretation.
Caravaggio is not only attempting to depict Bacchus, but also a boy dressed up as Bacchus. It Is a sensual scene inviting the viewer to succumb to their carnal desires. The boy is youthful and handsome, round yet muscular. He barely makes an attempt to keep his robes on as he coaxes the viewer to join him with a suggestive look in his eye. In the basket there is a bursting pomegranate as well as a rotting apple. Caravaggio uses these elements together to hint at the Vanitas theme. Youth and pleasure are fleeting. Everything must succumb to death and rot.  It is also possible that the rotting apple simply represents fermentation, suggesting not only that fermentation is literally rot, but also that improper methods of fermentation lead to the personification of rot. The homoeroticism felt in the painting could be Caravaggio alluding to his own romantic feelings for the young model in the painting. Many of Caravaggio's patrons and fellow artists turned a blind eye to his behavior and continued to support his work. Art historian, Donald Posner, felt that the homoeroticism in the painting was actually alluding to Cardinal Del Monte's sexuality and his relationships with the young boys that ran in his inner circle.
Caravaggio Vanitas Bacchus Cardinal Del Monte