CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Engraved on this flat oval intaglio is Bacchus, the god of wine, seated side-saddle upon the back of a lion. The god is depicted youthful and effeminate in the style developed during the Hellenistic Period. He wears a mantle wrapped around his lower body, the drapery folds revealing the volume of his legs, while his somewhat lithe upper torso is exposed. He rests his right hand on the lion’s mane while holding the end of the mantle in left hand, his arm bent up at the elbow. His head faces frontally, with his long hair brushed back over his ears. The lion stands with his forelegs together, his rear left advanced, all on a groundline. The gem is set within a plain bezel with a fringe of ribbon and a ridged suspension loop.
Bacchus was associated with various felines, including lions, tigers, and panthers. He can be shown seated on a feline, side-saddle, as here, or riding in a chariot pulled by a feline team. In both cases, the scene commemorates the god’s triumphant return from the conquest of India. On more elaborate compositions, such as on the Triumph sarcophagus in New York, the god is accompanied by satyrs, maenads and Seasons (see no. 17 in A.M. McCann, Roman Sarcophagi in The Metropolitan Museum of Art). The excerpted scene of the god seated on a feline is found in many other media, including mosaics, textiles and gems. For a list of other examples together with ancient literary references, see P.M. Jácome, “Bacchus and Felines in Roman Iconography: Issues of Gender and Species,” in A. Bernabé, et al., eds., Redefining Dionysos.