A ROMAN BRONZE PRIAPUS

CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE PRIAPUS
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
The fertility god standing with his legs held closely together, wearing short pointed boots, his long belted cloak falling like a cape to his ankles, gripping the edges of his cloak with both hands at the front and lifting it up as it overflows with fruits and vegetables, three triangular bunches of grapes falling over the edge, the raised cloak revealing his exaggerated erect phallus, the bearded god wearing a loose cap over his head
4¼ in. (10.8 cm.) high

Provenance

Texas Private Collection.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1991 (Art of the Ancient World, vol. VI, part 2, no. 31).

Lot Essay

Thought to be the son of Venus and Bacchus, Priapus was a deity of fertility often placed in gardens to ensure fruitfulness. In the Roman Period he came to be associated with Pan and Sylvanus and the phallic rites of Bacchic rituals (see p. 124ff. in Grant, Eros in Pompeii, the Erotic Collection of the Museum of Naples).

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