Head fragment (sculpture)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1750
Materials
Marble
Measurements
200 mm (H)150 mm (W)150 mm (D)
Order this imageCollection
Downhill, County Londonderry
NT 180529
Summary
Fragment of a head of Dionysos. Roman (first to second centuries AD, but more probably circa 1750). The back left quadrant of the head shows long hair and a wreath of grape leaves and flowers. Enough of the bun remains to suggest that the head turned to its left. The long hair and wreath of flowers and leaves indicate that the head once depicted Dionysos, the god of wine. Generally depicted as a beautiful and inebriated youth, he was always a popular subject. Either the neck of an ancient head has been worked so as to place it on an new bust or statue, or the head is entirely 18th c and was made to complete a bust or statue without a head.