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Dionysos
Greek
Classical or Hellenistic Period
about 340 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Marble probably from the Greek island of Paros
Dimensions
Height x length (of face): 34 x 21.5 cm (13 3/8 x 8 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Catharine Page Perkins Fund
Accession Number96.695
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 046; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 108 (additional published references).
DescriptionBroken from a statue slightly more than life-size, the head is inclined toward the right shoulder. A broad fillet binds the hair, which is parted in the middle, escapes from under the fillet at the temples, and is drawn to the sides in thick masses of wavy locks. On the top of the head the hair is less carefully worked, and at the back, where it is gathered into a large knot at the nape of the neck, the surface is only blocked out. A separate curl hangs down behind each ear, perhaps once as far as the shoulders.
The head has been broken at the base of the neck. There is also a large break in the top of the head, and the ends of the locks behind the ears are missing. The surface has been injured slightly, on the forehead, the lower lip, the right side of the mouth, and the chin. The surfaces have a light yellow to gray patina.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI235: Isotope ratios - delta13C +5.24 / delta18O -3.09, Attribution - Paros 1, Justification - Calcitic by EM.
The head has been broken at the base of the neck. There is also a large break in the top of the head, and the ends of the locks behind the ears are missing. The surface has been injured slightly, on the forehead, the lower lip, the right side of the mouth, and the chin. The surfaces have a light yellow to gray patina.
Scientific Analysis:
Harvard Lab No. HI235: Isotope ratios - delta13C +5.24 / delta18O -3.09, Attribution - Paros 1, Justification - Calcitic by EM.
ProvenanceBy date unknown: with Edward Perry Warren (according to Warren's records: "Said to have been found near the choragic monument of Lysikrates. . . .Bought in Athens."); purchased by MFA from Edward Perry Warren, October 1896