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Dancing Maenad
Byzantine, Coptic
Early Byzantine Period
4th-5th century A.D.
Place of Manufacture: Egypt, Alexandria
Medium/Technique
Bone
Dimensions
Height x width: 10.8 × 3 cm (4 1/4 × 1 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
John Michael Rodocanachi Fund
Accession Number57.696
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
DescriptionFragment of a bone plaque representing a dancing maenad seen from behind as she swirls with her drapery—clad in high-girdled chiton with over cloak (apoptygma) leaving breast and shoulder bare. Many similar dancing maenads were found. Once part of a larger Dionysiac composition that 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)