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Herm bust of Dionysos
Roman
Imperial Period
1st or 2nd century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Marble from Carrara in northwest Italy
Dimensions
Height: 26 cm (10 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
The Benjamin and Lucy Rowland Fund, Gift of E. D. B. Vermeule, and Gift of Earle W. Carr
Accession Number1979.523
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), no. 028.
DescriptionFront of bust and grapes broken off. Parts of the fillet and grapes with leaves and vine in hair have been damaged. Sides smoothed off in antiquity and there are dowel holes drilled for "arms" (supports for wreaths or fillets) set into the sides of the herm.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI743: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.17 / delta18O -1.90, Attribution - Carrara, Justification - Opaque, fine grained marble.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI743: Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.17 / delta18O -1.90, Attribution - Carrara, Justification - Opaque, fine grained marble.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: Larz Anderson Collection, Brookline, Mass. (said to have been acquired in Italy after the Civil War); Isabel Anderson Collection, Brookline Mass.; by about 1949: Earle W. Carr Collection (who said in 1979 that he acquired it from the collection of Larz and Isabel Anderson about 30 years ago); purchased by MFA from Earle W. Carr, November 14, 1979