Silenus carrying the child Dionysus
White marble sculpture.
H. 200 - W. 75 cm
Wear and tear and accidents.
Related work : - 1st century AD (?) ; 2nd century AD. (?), Silenus carrying Dionysus child, marble, H : 198 cm, Paris, Louvre Museum, n°inv. MR 346.
Related literature : -Jean-Luc Martinez, Les antiques du Musée Napoléon. Illustrated and commented edition of volumes V and VI of the Louvre's inventory in 1810.
Paris, RMN, 2004. Notes et documents des musées de France; 39, p. 166, n° 0285.
This monumental white marble sculpture representing the satyr Silenus, commissioned by Zeus to entrust his adulterous son
Dionysus to the nymphs, was inspired by an original work from the 1st or 2nd century AD, discovered in Rome in 1569. This famous antique was acquired by Napoleon in 1807 and has been kept since 1811 in the Louvre Museum (n°inv. MR 346). It was the subject of numerous copies in various formats and typologies throughout the 19th century.
Born from Jupiter's thigh, from his adulterous love affair with the human Semel, Dionysus is educated by Silenus who teaches him to plant the vine.
While traditional iconography usually depicts him as an ugly, debonair, drunken old man, he is represented here with a harmonious, muscular figure, underlining the ideal of ancient beauty. His face is turned towards the playful child, who raises his left arm towards the crown of vines around his teacher's head, with a caring and fatherly expression.
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