Dancing maenads

Unknown (Roman)

Item type:

sculpture

Date of creation:

1st century

Height:

90.0 cm  (35 7/16 in.)

Width:

166.0 cm  (65 3/8 in.)

Technique / Medium:

marble

School:

Roman school

Description

The two complementary marble slabs (perhaps coming from the same building) are carved in high-relief with four richly draped maenads portrayed in different attitudes, holding the typical attributes of the Dionysian cult rite (thyrsi with fluttering bands, torchs, masks, snakes, orgiastic instruments such tympana and krotala, fruit offerings, animals to be sacrificed). The frame consists of spirals decorated with flower motifs and rosettes sprouting from a central stylized palm-shaped tuft.

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Tympanon [3705] (Slab B)
Crotales [2470] (Slab B)

RIdIM images

Bibliographic references

Images of music: A cultural heritage. CD 2: Rhythm in music and dance (Innsbruck, Germany: Institut für Musikwissenschaft, Universität Innsbruck, 2003)

Castaldo, Daniela. "Musica di età romana in Piemonte", Miscellanea di Studi 6, ed. by Alberto Basso (Torino: Istituto per i Beni Musicali in Piemonte, 2006) 7-24.

RIdIM record id

3031