Marble relief with a dancing maenad

Adaptation of work attributed to Kallimachos

ca. 27 BCE–14 CE

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 153

Copy of a Greek relief of ca. 425–400 B.C. attributed to Kallimachos

Maenads were mythical women inspired by the god of wine, Dionysos, to abandon their homes and families and roam the mountains and forests, singing and dancing in a state of ecstatic frenzy. This figure, wearing an ivy wreath and carrying a thyrsos (fennel stalk) bedecked with ivy leaves and berries, moves forward, trancelike, her drapery swirling about her. She was copied from a famous relief of dancing maenads dated to the late fifth century B.C., when Euripides portrayed the manic devotées of Dionysos in his play the Bacchae.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

References

Title: Marble relief with a dancing maenad
Artist: Adaptation of work attributed to Kallimachos
Period: Early Imperial, Augustan
Date: ca. 27 BCE–14 CE
Culture: Roman
Medium: Marble, Pentelic
Dimensions: H. 56 5/16 in. (143 cm)
Classification: Stone Sculpture
Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1935
Object Number: 35.11.3
Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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1049. Marble relief with a dancing maenad

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