Marble statuette of Dionysos

Period:
Early Hellenistic
Date:
early 3rd century B.C.
Culture:
Greek
Medium:
Marble
Dimensions:
H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm)
Classification:
Stone Sculpture
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1959
Accession Number:
59.11.2
  • Description

    The god wears Thracian boots, a short chiton, a belted panther skin, and a goatskin worn like a cape, with the forelegs of the goat wrapped around his arms. He can perhaps be identified as Dionysos Melanaigis (of the Black Goatskin), whose cult was introduced into Attica from Boeotia. Pausanias (II.35.1), second century A.D. author of a guide to Greece, mentions a temple to Dionysos Melanaigis in Methana on the Saronic Gulf and states that a music competition was held there in the god's honor every year and that prizes were awarded for swimming races and boat races.

  • Provenance

    Said to have been found at Koukouvaones in Attica

  • References

    Bothmer, Dietrich von. 1961. "Etruscan, Greek, and Roman: Sculptures in the Recent Accessions Room." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 19(6): p. 183, fig. 3.

  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
130015498

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