A ROMAN BRONZE PAPPOSILENUS

The iconography of this figure is enigmatic. While the face is clearly that of Papposilenus, the paidagogos (tutor) of Dionysus, it may be that an actor is depicted. For a nearly identical figure but shown wearing a pointed cap, see the figure in Vienna, pl. 33, 4 in E.F. von Sacken, Die antiken Bronzen des K.K. Münz- und Antiken-Cabinetes in Wien; for a cloaked but not hooded Papposilenus shouldering a goat, see no. 24 in J. Petit, Bronzes Antiques de la collection Dutuit. The style of the face is similar to that on a Papposilenus furniture support now in the Israel Museum, no. 98 in O.W. Muscarella, ed., Ancient Art: The Norbert Schimmel Collection. The form of the cloak further recalls depictions of Telesphoros, the son of Asklepios (see, for example, pp. 870-878 in H. Rühfel, "Telesphoros," LIMC, vol. VII).