Dionysos and maenad
about 1st–2nd century A.D.
Medium/TechniqueGreek and Italian marble,
DimensionsOverall: 88.9 x 43.2 cm (35 x 17 in.)
Credit LineGift of Paul E. Manheim
Accession number68.770
On View
On viewClassificationsSculpture
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An ancient Roman sculptor probably carved this work as an image of the rustic god Priapos with a maenad, a member of the wine god Bacchus’s retinue. By the 18th century, all that remained was a fragment, composed mostly of the figures’ torsos and drapery. Selectively re-carved, and with heads and legs added, it became Bacchus and his beloved, Ariadne. Sculptors on the continent made an industry creating such confections, which well-heeled travelers on the Grand Tour avidly acquired. An English “milord” purchased this one, and it became part of a famous collection of antiquities at Marbury Hall in Cheshire.
probably 2nd century A.D.
2nd half of the 1st century or early 2nd century AD
Early 1st century A.D.
530–515 B.C.
5th century
about 2nd century A.D. (after a Hellenistic Greek type)
about A.D. 200
about A.D. 120
probably A.D. 50–75
second half of 2nd century A.D.
about 1st century B.C.