Relief Plaque (Primary Title)

Unknown (Artist)

4th century BC
Greek
copper alloy
Overall: 5 × 3 3/4 in. (12.7 × 9.53 cm)
57.18.2

This fragmentary bronze shows a horse-like satyr kneeling in a landscape (indicated by a tree) with a dramatically foreshortened right leg and left hand. Satyrs—human-animal hybrids—accompanied the god Dionysos in both his wine-fueled celebrations and his military campaigns. This satyr, wearing an animal and with his thyrsus (a staff surmounted with a pinecone) beside him, shields his eyes to look into the distance, a fitting gesture for a relief that probably once decorated a soldier’s cuirass.

Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

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