Statue of Dionysos in the Princeton University Art Museum, August 2009

Statue of Dionysos
ca. 14 – 45 A.D.

Roman, Tiberian to early Claudian, 41 - 54 A.D.

Marble

h. 99.6 cm., w. 31.6 cm., d. 25.9 cm. (39 3/16 x 12 7/16 x 10 3/16 in.)

Museum purchase, gift of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951

Object Number: y1989-24

Text from: artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/collections/ancient/search/

In Roman art, Dionysos / Bacchus might be represented as an infant, a handsome youth, or an older bearded man, all types based ultimately on earlier Greek models. In this case, the prototype was the so-called Westmacott Ephebe, a statue by the 5th-century BC sculptor Polykleitos, which frequently was adapted by Roman sculptors for figures ranging from Dionysos and Hermes to Herakles and Meleager. Here the young god of wine is identified by the panther skin draped across his chest. The remnants of a rectangular strut behind the right calf indicates that there once was another figure or object at this point, possibly a panther.

Text from the Princeton University Art Museum label.