• r2-223-10
    Table leg, Dionysus leaning on pillar, front view. (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)

Table Leg, Dionysus Leaning on Pillar

Date
2nd C. AD, Roman
Museum
Manisa, Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum, 3793
Museum Inventory No.
3793
Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
S63.058
Material
Marble, Stone
Object Type
Sculpture
Sculpture Type
Furnishing, Human Figure, Mythological Figure
Site
Sardis
Sector
BS
Trench
Syn 63
Locus
BS Locus BS-E 19 (Area of)
B-Grid Coordinates
E113.4 - E114.1 / S0.5 *97.75
Findspot
BS E 19 next to N wall.
Description

Young Dionysus leans on a pillar with l. arm, his hand cupped over the top of the pillar molding. Weight is on his r. leg, the l. one crosses it in front and rests on the ball of the foot. His back is against a second, taller pillar with stepped-out base and simple capital. The face is smashed away but the long hair, parted in middle and falling to shoulders, bound with ivy or grape vine, confirms the identification. The leaves stem from a twisted cord-like vine. Drill holes at leaves suggest grapes, or are possibly for metal attachment. Hair behind the vine is not carved. His body is plump but the surface treatment is hard. The r. arm was attached by dowelling; there is a trace of iron strut on the r. thigh. Anathyrosis is on top of the tall pillar where the table leg was attached; rough chisel marks remain on its back.

The proportions are stocky; the treatment of anatomy and surface is adequate but lacking in real understanding. The hard technique suggests a date in the 2nd C. A.D.

Condition

White marble.

Head and top of back pillar broken off horizontally, now mended. R. arm missing from above elbow. Face and genitals damaged.

Dimensions
H. 1/04. Base: 0.242 by 0.275 by 0.07. Small pillar: H. 0.40; W. 0.07; D. 0.08.
Comments
See Also
Bibliography
Published: BASOR 174, 46; 177, 20, fig. 20; Hanfmann, Letters, fig. 115; also found in Shop E19, cf. Cat. 220 (Fig. 385). The Byzantine Shops will be published by J.S. Crawford in a forthcoming Sardis monographSardis M9.
Author
NHR