DIONYSOS & BACCHUS

Dionysos holding a kantharos and a vine, and a satyr pouring from an oinochoë. At the left the inscription “The boy is handsome” (HΟΠΑΙSΚΑLΟS / HO PAIS KALOS). The whole surrounded by a circle decorated with a meander. Exterior painted black without decoration. Repaired and painted over.

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.

Dionysos, god of wine and the pleasures it can bring, was extremely popular during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The Greek kings who ruled the lands conquered by Alexander the Great took him as patron deity, and the Romans, impressed by the luxury and wealth of those kingdoms, filled their private villas with images of the god. Dionysos could be shown either as an elderly bearded man, the perfect drinking companion, or as a beautiful youth.

The decoration on the body is executed in a combination of black silhouette and outline drawing on a white ground. Such works, known as semioutline lekythoi, are associated with the workshops of two closely related artists, the Bowdoin Painter and the Athena Painter. The technique represents a modification of black-figure at a time when red-figure was gaining popularity.