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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1978.495.235
Title
Fragment of a Dionysiac Relief, Pan and Silenus in a Rustic Setting
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
14-68 CE
Period
Roman Imperial period, Early
Culture
Graeco-Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/198886

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Thasian (?) marble
Dimensions
14 x 37.5 x 4 cm (5 1/2 x 14 3/4 x 1 9/16 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University
Accession Year
1978
Object Number
1978.495.235
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Stone Sculptures: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums , written 1990
97

Fragment of a Dionysiac Relief, Pan and Silenus in a Rustic Setting

The left edge is preserved, with a cutting for insertion in a frame, as in the wall of a house. The other three edges are the result of irregular breaks. The back is smoothed and finished.

A Pan with pedum (shepherd's crook) in right hand and a nebris (animal skin) around shoulders appears to be prancing from right to left, looking back, in front of a tall, rectangular pillar with molded top. On this Doric pillar are two cloven feet from the small statue, cult image of Pan, which stood on top. At right, a plump Silenus raises his right arm and rests left on uncertain object, perhaps the neck of an ass. From the position of the two figures, Silenus higher than Pan, the former may be seated and riding backward on the animal.

A relief in the Museo Nazionale, Naples, Pan riding a mule or an ass in a rustic setting, shows the type of Graeco-Roman decorative panel represented by the Harvard fragment (Reinach, 1909-1912, III, p. 83, no. 5; Schreiber, 1894, pl. 54).

Cornelius Vermeule and Amy Brauer

Publication History

  • Cornelius C. Vermeule III and Amy Brauer, Stone Sculptures: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 111, no. 97

Exhibition History

  • Ancient Installation at Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, 09/30/2013 - 01/26/2015

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu