Cameo Glass Fragment with Two Bearded Dionysiac Figures

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Cameo Glass Fragment with Two Bearded Dionysiac Figures

Place of OriginRome

Date1st century CE

DimensionsW: 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm); L: 1 3/4 in. (2.9 cm)

MediumCameo glass.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1923.1540

Not on View

DescriptionThis fragment, measuring approximately 2.86 × 4.45 cm, preserves part of a curved cameo vessel with a thin white overlay (relief < 0.1 cm) over a translucent light blue ground. Two male figures are shown: the man on the right is bearded, seen in three-quarter view with a fillet-bound hairstyle, and holds a thyrsos (a pine-cone tipped staff associated with Dionysos). He appears older and human—unlike typical satyrs in such scenes. His figure shows considerable plasticity despite the shallow relief, especially in the torso musculature. The man on the left is nude and bearded, seen frontally.

Label TextThis exceptional fragment from a Roman cameo glass vessel shows two male figures in white over a translucent blue background. The bearded man at right holds a thyrsos—a staff topped with a pinecone—marking him as a follower of Dionysos. His lifelike pose and high-quality modeling recall works like the Portland Vase. The man at left, also bearded, is shown frontally and in a reclining pose. The cameo glass technique involved layering colored glass to create imagery in relief.Published ReferencesSturgis, Russell, “The Coleman Collection of Antique Glass,” The Century Magazine, vol. 48, 1894, p. 557, fig. 13.

Gazda, Elaine K., ed., The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii: Ancient Ritual, Modern Muse, Ann Arbor, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology and University of Michigan Museum of Art, 2000, pp. 220-221, no. 86.

Exhibition HistoryAnn Arbor, Kelsey Museum of Archeology and the University of Michigan Museum of Art, The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii: Ancient Ritual, Modern Muse, 2000, no. 86, pp. 220-1, repr.