Antiquity · Art Institute of Chicago · 217295
Statue of Young Dionysos
Hellenistic or Roman, 100 BCE-100 CE
Art Institute of Chicago · Anonymous loan · Public domain
- Artist
- Hellenistic or Roman
- Date
- 100 BCE-100 CE
- Medium
- Bronze, copper, and silver (modern)
- Dimensions
- 135.8 × 62 × 52 cm (54 × 24 1/2 × 20 in.)
- Era
- Antiquity
Why it matters
This statue depicting Dionysos, god of wine and theater, is one of very few bronze statues to have survived from antiquity. It is thought that he once held a kantharos, or wine cup, in his raised right arm and may have held a thyrsos, a staff topped by a pine cone, in his left, since the deity is shown holding them in other ancient sculptures and paintings.