Statue of Dionysos Leaning on a Female Figure

Dionysos is defined as the "God of wine and divine". It is a marble statue displayed at

The Metropolitan of Museum of Art. It is in the section of Greek and Roman art on the first

floor. "The statue belongs to the Roman Imperial period of late first century A.D., Augustan or

Julio-Claudian period, 27 B.C. - A.D. 68. There is no known evidence who was the original

artist. It is 87 1/4 inches tall". (Metropolitan) The sculpture is a gift from the Frederick W.

Richmond Foundation, Judy and Michael Steinhardt and Mr. and Mrs. A. Alfred Taubman,

1990. Its restoration is by the eighteenth century sculptor Vincenzo Pacetti. This statue is also

known as "Hope Dionysos". This monumental statue was named after its owner, Thomas

Phillip Hope.

When I first looked at the statue of "Hope Dionysos", I was stunned and mesmerized.

The statue was standing gracefully with a lot of idealistic features so I decided to choose it for

my museum paper assignment. Dionysos belongs to a Roman Imperial period. This sculpture is

a Roman copy of Greek original. Romans were influenced by Greek sculpture, painting and

architecture. The Greek art represents idealism and Roman art was mostly based on history

rather than mythology. The Romans liked to identify their God and copy the Greek iconography.

The statue of Dionysos represented a Roman God.

This statue is shown standing with right foot little ahead of left, like controposto, where

one leg is in tension and other is relaxed. His left arm is placed on the female figure. The statue

of Hope Dionysos is wearing a cloak and his upper right arm and shoulder are covered by

it. His cloak can be seen down on the right side and some part of it is around the back of the

statue and on the head of the female statue. The Dionysos is wearing high sandals and an image

of an animal head can be seen on it. He is wearing a panther or lion skin over his dress. "The

torso and head of Dionysos, and most of the archaistic figures are Roman. However, the head

was joined to the torso by the sculptor and restorer Vincenzo Pacetti, who also provided arms,

lower legs and other details to complete the composition". (Vincenzo Pacetti)

The female statue looks like giving support to the left arm of Dionysos. "It is difficult to

know whether the original Greek statue of Dionysos, of which this is a copy, included the female

figure". (Metropolitan) This female figure is frontally and standing on a base. She is wearing a

long dress and holds some part of it by left hand. Her right arm is extended towards the front

and holding some flowers. She is wearing some kind of cap on her head and her braids are seen

on her two shoulders on the front. Both statues are sharing the same round base and the statue of

Dionysos is also supported by a thick pillar on his back.

Every part of the statue draws attention. The statue's clothing was done with great detail

and looks real. The face of Dionysos is carrying serious facial expressions and well defined

features. The marble statue of Dionysos is very well integrated into the