Dionysos with satyrs and maenads

Unknown (Greek)

Item type:

vessel

Date of creation:

2nd century BCE

Height:

7.8 cm  (3 1/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

black-figure terracotta

School:

Boeotian

Additional titles

Description

Side A: A female figure (probably a maenad) playing crotola and probably dancing (depiction not clear), following Hephaistos mounted on horse; a satyr walking in front of a horse; Side B: A seated man in the center holding a drinking horn; to the left a satyr (possibly dancing); to the right the female figure of side A.
Meander border framed by ridges, above a Dionysos scene with trees, maenads, and saytrs.

Mold-made bowls from Boeotia are often decorated in relief with Homeric themes and subjects drawn from Classical Greek tragedy. Although this bowl depicts a bucolic Dionysiac revel, its shape and the egg and dart wreath surrounding its foot suggest it too was made in Boeotia. The relief on the base is badly worn, but it could portray either Dionysos or a satyr crowned with grape leaves, as either would make a suitable counterpart to the primary figural scene on the bowl.

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Crotala

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

3850