On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Front panel of a sarcophagus with scenes from the life of Dionysos,
ca. 140–160 CE
Roman
Roman Imperial Period, Antonine Period, 138–193 CE, ca. 30 BCE–476 CE
y1949-110
Joyous celebrations, often in the company of the wine god Dionysos, are frequently found on second-century CE sarcophagi. At the left of this fragmentary panel, a cult statue of Dionysos is being set up by satyrs and maenads. In the center, seated satyrs receive offerings from two women. The scene at the right develops around a baby Dionysos with four attendants. To the right of this group stands the half-goat, half-anthropomorphic god Pan; his fragmentary figure indicates that a fourth scene, now lost, was originally present. The sarcophagus’s left-end panel, depicting Silenos and a maenad, survives in Arezzo, Italy. The right-end panel, with nymphs and the infant Dionysos, is in Woburn Abbey, England. This relief was known as early as the fifteenth century, when a vignette inspired Donatello’s bronze pulpit relief in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence.
Information
Title
Front panel of a sarcophagus with scenes from the life of Dionysos
Dates
ca. 140–160 CE
Medium
Fine-grained, opaque white marble with faint dark veining, probably Proconnesian
Dimensions
38.5 x 150.5 x 5.5 cm (15 3/16 x 59 1/4 x 2 3/16 in.)
floor: d. 4.5 cm (1 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, John Maclean Magie, Class of 1892, and Gertrude Magie Fund
Object Number
y1949-110
Place Made
Roman Empire
Culture
Period
Type
Materials
Museum purchase from Mario Barsanti, Rome, 1949.
- Ludwig Curtius and Fritz Eichler, "Dionysischer Sarkophag: Fragmente attischer Sarkophage in Wien", Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes in Wien 36 (1946): p. 62-76, 82-96., p. 62-76, 82-86 (illus.)
- "Recent accessions", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 8, no. 2 (1949): p. 11., p. 12
- "Recent Acquisitions," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 8, no. 2 (1949): 11–12., p. 12
-
Donald N. Wilber, "A relief from Persepolis", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 9, no. 2 (1950): p. 2-3.
, p. 2-3; cover illus. -
Gerard van Hoorn, Choes and anthesteria, (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1951).
, p. 28, note 64 - Frances Follin Jones, "The Princeton Art Museum: antiquities received in recent years", Archaeology 7, no. 4 (Dec., 1954): p. 237-243., p. 242 (illus.)
- Horst Woldemar Janson, The sculpture of Donatello, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957). , p. 216
- Irving Lavin, 'The sources of Donatello's pulpits in San Lorenzo: revival and freedom of choice in the Early Renaissance", Art bulletin 41, no. 1 (Mar., 1959): p. 19-38., p. 19-38
- Julius S. Held, Rubens: selected drawings, (London: Phaidon Press, 1959)., Vol. 1: p. 129
- C. Vermeule and D. von Bothmer, "Notes on a new edition of Michaelis, part 3:2", American journal of archaeology 63, no. 4, (Oct., 1959): p. 329-348., p. 347
- F. F. Jones and R. Goldberg, Ancient art in the Art Museum: Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1960)., p. 62-63 (illus.)
- Margarete Bieber, A history of Greek and Roman theater, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1961). , fig. 93
- Erika Simon, "Zum Fries der Mysterienvilla bei Pompeji", Jahrbuch des deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 76 (1961): p. 111-172., p. 161, no. 130
- H.R.H., "The Art Museum at Princeton University: a selection from the collections", Art Journal 26, no. 2 (Winter, 1966-1967): p. 172+174+176+178., p. 172; fig. 2
- Robert Turcan, Les sarcophages romains a représentations dionysiaques, (Paris: E. de Boccard, 1966)., p. 51, note2; p. 164; p. 167-168; p. 381; p. 384; p. 407; p. 412ff; p. 524
- Roger Stuveras, Le putto dans l'art romain, (Bruxelles: Latomus, 1969). , p. 32; photo no. 134
- Peter B. Blanchard, Rona Goffen and David Steadman, Copies as originals: translations in media and techniques, (Princeton, NJ: Art Museum, Princeton University, 1974)., no. 22[?]; p. 98 (illus.)
- Mary C. Sturgeon, "The reliefs on the theater of Dionysos in Athens", American journal of archaeology 81, no. 1 (Winter, 1977): p. 31-53., p. 52
- Wendy Stedman Sheard, Antiquity in the Renaissance, (Northampton, MA: Smith College Museum of Art, 1978)., no. 15
- John Boardman, et. al., Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC), (Zürich: Artemis Verlag, 1981-2009)., Vol. II: p. 425, Apollon/ Apollo 448; Vol. III: p. 346, plate 257, Daphne 20;
-
Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule, Greek and Roman sculpture in America: masterpieces in public collections in the United States and Canada, (Malibu, CA: The J. Paul Getty Museum; Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1981).
, p. 242, no. 202 (Illus.) - Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 28 (illus.)
- William E. Mierse and Florence D. Friedman, To bid farewell: images of death in the ancient world, (Providence, RI: Rhode Island School of Design, 1987)., fig. 3 (illus.)
- Christopher White, Peter Paul Rubens: man & artist, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987)., p. 91 (illus.)
- Hugo Meyer, "A cycle of one? On the identity of a puzzling figure on the Princeton dionysiac sarcophagus", Rivista di archeologia 17 (1993)., p. 41-53; fig. 1
- Janet Huskinson, Roman children’s sarcophagi: their decoration and its social significance, (Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). , p. 33; no. 3.15
- J. Michael Padgett, ed., Roman sculpture in The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Art Museum, Princeton University, 2001)., p. 165-167; cat. no. 47
- Andrew Oliver, Jr., "The changing fashions of Roman silver", Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 63 (2004): p. 2-27., p. 22, fig. 32
-
Maria Elisa Micheli, Valeria Purcaro and Anna Santucci, La raccolta di antichità Baldassini-Castelli: itinerario tra Roma, Terni e Pesaro, (Pisa: ETS, 2007).
, pp. 128-129, fig. 8. - Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), 56 (illus.)
- Brendan Cole, "The mask of Dionysus: a reinterpretation of Poussin's 'Triumph of Pan'," Artibus et historiae 65 (2012): p. 231-274., fig. 34, p. 259 (illus.)
-
Andrew Stewart, "Sculptor's sketches, trial pieces, figure studies, and models in poros limestone from the Athenian Agora", Hesperia 82, no. 4 (Oct.–Dec., 2013): p. 615-650.
, cat. no. 14; p. 631-635; fig. 19. - Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 56
