Advanced Search 
Silenus
Byzantine, Coptic
Early Byzantine Period
4th-5th century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Bone
Dimensions
Overall: 8.6 × 5.1 cm (3 3/8 × 2 in.)
Credit Line
John Michael Rodocanachi Fund
Accession Number57.691
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionFragment of a convex boned plaque; figure of an elderly half-nude male bald and bearded with head turned slightly towards the right. With legs missing; He is clad in a draped himation hanging below his waist and holds a phiale in his left hand; anatomical and facial details are carved with a more accurate and plastic effect than many in this group. This was part of a larger composition of several plaques with representations of figures from the Dionysiac entourage that once adorned wooden box or a piece of wooden furniture in the household of Roman and early Byzantine Egypt. Presumed to have been made in Alexandria and demonstrating the continuation of Classical themes into the early Byzantine period.
ProvenanceBy 1905: Joseph von Kopf Collection, Rome; by 1957: with Dr. Antonio Agostini, Rome; purchased by MFA from Dr. Antonio Agostini, November 14, 1957 for $ 300- (this figure is the total price for 57.691-699)