Roman, 2nd century A.D.

Bronze

H: 14.5 cm (5.7 in)

Serial: 37221

This remarkable cast and chiseled bronze sculpture takes the form of a bust of a young man, with broad bare shoulders and chest supported on a narrow base. The head is turned to the right and slightly inclined downward. The attributes clearly identify the figure as Bacchus (Dionysos, the god of wine and patron of the theater). He wears a goat skin draped diagonally across the left shoulder, its legs and hooves knotted together in a manner resembling a circular fibula. The small animal head, with tiny horns, is rendered in fine relief, while the fur is indicated by delicate, thin incisions.

The hair of the god was likewise worked with great care after casting: regular, wavy incisions cover the surface of the head in parallel rows. The hairstyle itself is noteworthy - long hair, parted at the middle, is drawn back from either side into a thick double bun at the nape, while two strands fall freely onto the shoulders. At the temples, short crescent-shaped locks frame the face. The head is adorned with both a diadem (a narrow band placed low across the forehead) and a crown of ivy leaves and berry clusters (corymbi), the sacred plant of Dionysos. The diadem, decorated with round knots, pendants, and trailing ends, is further embellished with tiny, engraved dots suggesting embroidery. At the center of the forehead, two small goat horns emerge, alluding both to Pan and to Dionysos’ role as a god of nature and fertility.

The beardless face of the god is marked by an idealized beauty: an elongated oval shape, with small mouth, straight nose, almond-shaped eyes (with indicated pupils) beneath arched brows, rounded cheeks and chin, and a full, prominent neck - all evoking the image of a youthful, healthy, and radiant divinity.

This idealized portrait of Bacchus was undoubtedly derived from a Roman classicizing statue type, of which several marble replicas survive (including the head in the Capitoline Museums). That type itself reproduces a lost Greek bronze original of the late Classical period.

The upright position of the bust identified by the straight line of the base and by remains of an iron pin on the back side suggest that the bronze was placed vertically against a flat background as an appliqué – perhaps, being part of the complex decoration of a ceremonial throne, table, a large chest, or a chariot.

CONDITION

Overall beautiful light-green patina; oxides and deposits on back side; remains of iron pin and a rivet (with corresponding patch on the exterior); corrosion.

PROVENANCE

Ex- German private collection, acquired on the European art market in the 1980’s.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), vol.3, Zurich, Munich, 1986, s.v. Dionysos, nos. 200-203.

RICHTER G. M. A., The Furniture of the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans, London, 1966, pls. 487, 581.

37221