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Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
R. Peyrefitte, Un Musée de l'Amour, Paris, 1972, p. 80.
Dionysus, a popular subject of both ancient Greek and Roman art, appears in a myriad of guises: elderly drunkard, triumphant conqueror of India, saviour of the abandoned Ariadne, instigator of ritual ecstasy and madness. Here the divinity is depicted in one of his most distinctive poses, seeking to impress upon the viewer the god's youthful beauty and sexual readiness. He is shown with his crooked arm bent back behind his head, a motif that was used in studies of young, effeminate males to emphasize their attractiveness. This pose finds its origin in Greek representations of Apollo, most famously in those of the Praxitelean type, where elegance and effeminacy combine to epitomize youthful male beauty. By the Roman period, examples of Narcissus, Ganymede and Antinous attest to this gesture providing a visual shorthand for such beauty, whilst simultaneously suggesting the subject's enthusiasm for amorous encounters. This Dionysus, whose hair falls in long, girlish locks, and who is stared at adoringly by a cupid, thus shows the god in his most romantic guise - as the young, exceptionally attractive embodiment of pleasure.
R. Peyrefitte, Un Musée de l'Amour, Paris, 1972, p. 80.
Dionysus, a popular subject of both ancient Greek and Roman art, appears in a myriad of guises: elderly drunkard, triumphant conqueror of India, saviour of the abandoned Ariadne, instigator of ritual ecstasy and madness. Here the divinity is depicted in one of his most distinctive poses, seeking to impress upon the viewer the god's youthful beauty and sexual readiness. He is shown with his crooked arm bent back behind his head, a motif that was used in studies of young, effeminate males to emphasize their attractiveness. This pose finds its origin in Greek representations of Apollo, most famously in those of the Praxitelean type, where elegance and effeminacy combine to epitomize youthful male beauty. By the Roman period, examples of Narcissus, Ganymede and Antinous attest to this gesture providing a visual shorthand for such beauty, whilst simultaneously suggesting the subject's enthusiasm for amorous encounters. This Dionysus, whose hair falls in long, girlish locks, and who is stared at adoringly by a cupid, thus shows the god in his most romantic guise - as the young, exceptionally attractive embodiment of pleasure.