Bacchus and Silenus, front view.
Title
Bacchus and Silenus , front view .
Date
2nd century
Cultural Context
Ancient Roman Italian European Western European
Style/Period
Roman (ancient Italian style) Imperial (Roman)
Subject
Statues Men Gods Myths Legends Supernatural beings Fictitious characters Nudes Crowns Headdresses Headgear Wreaths Vines Hides & skins Beards Genitals Bowls (Tableware) Grapes Fruit Food Lifting & carrying Symbols
Description
"This statue combines two antique fragments : Bacchus's torso and Silenus's torso and head , along with sixteenth-century additions including Bacchus's head , arms , and legs , and Silenus's arms and legs . The restoration is probably the work of the Della Porta family . […] Here, the restorer transformed the sinuous body of Apollo into Bacchus by adding a head crowned with vines , and two arms - one holding a bowl of grapes and the other raised and holding a bunch of grapes . This figure is a smaller copy of the Apollo Sauroctonus - the lizard slayer , a statue by fourth-century B.C . Greek sculptor Praxiteles , known through many full-scale Roman replicas (in the Vatican and Louvre) but also through several statuettes . […] Next to Bacchus stands old potbellied Silenus or Papposilenus , an animal hide under his left arm and attached to his right shoulder . In keeping with a tradition well known in Roman art , the thick hair covering Silenus's torso signifies the character's bestiality . […] The association of the two figures is far from groundless . The subject of a drunken Bacchus being held up by Silenus existed in Greek and Roman art […]. " (Excerpt from catalogue entry by Jean-Luc Martinez , p . 151) . Discovered in Italy (?) . Purchased in 1807 , formerly in the Borghese collection and the Della Porta collection (MA 489-INV . MR 115) . Restorer : P . Klein , 2006 .
People Pictured
Bacchus (Greek deity) Silenus (Greek mythology)
Material
Marble (rock) Rock Stone (rock)
Measurements
H: 35 in (89 cm)
Technique
Sculpting Carving (processes)
Work Type
Sculpture Statues Nudes (representations) Stonework
Repository
Musee du Louvre (Paris, France)
Source
Giroire, Cecile, and Daniel Roger. Roman Art from the Louvre. New York: American Federation of Arts in assoc. with Hudson Hills Press, 2007. (p.151, cat.82).
Rights
Photographs of the works in the exhibition reproduced in Giroire courtesy: Copyright © 2007 Musee du Louvre and the American Federation of Arts/Anne Chauvet, Daniel Lebee, and Carine De Ambrosis.
Digital Publisher
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center
Format
image/jpeg
Digital File Name
VRC 762-19.jpg
Rating
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