On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Front panel of a sarcophagus with scenes from the life of Dionysos,
ca. 140–160 CE
Roman
Early Antonine Period, 138–193 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
Period
Type
Materials
Museum purchase from Mario Barsanti, Rome, 1949.
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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), p. 109 (illus.)
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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.
