26 Inches High x 18 Inches Wide

This piece is a fragment of the relief identified only as “a maenad and two satyrs in a Bacchic procession.” Today, the two known originals are in the collections of the British Museum and the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. The other section of the relief is . The relief was made in the Neo-Attic style in which Greek artists under Roman rule referenced earlier, popular Greek artistic styles; the figures in this sculpture are in the style of 4th century B.C.E. Athenian art.

The full relief depicts two fauns (or satyrs in Greek) and a bacchante (or maenad in Greek) celebrating their god Bacchus (or Dionysus in Greek), god of wine. The bacchante and faun on the right both play instruments. The bacchante’s drapery partially covers her body, while the faun only wears an animal hide over his left shoulder. The other faun, the one in this fragment, has an animal hide draped over his extended left arm and carries a thyrsus, which was a staff bore by Bacchus and his followers. A panther walks beside him.

Artist: Unknown

Museum: British Museum, London, and National Archaeological Museum, Naples

Origin: British Museum's - Roma Vecchia, Via Appia, Rome, and National Archaeological Museum's - Herculaneum

Time Period: Ancient Roman, 1st century B.C.E. - 1st century C.E.

1911 Catalog ID # - 7065

Sources:

"Bacchic Procession (a maenad and two satyrs in bacchic or Dionysian procession) from Herculaneum." Scala Archives, .

"Marble relief: a maenad and two satyrs in a Bacchic procession." Museum number 1805, 0703.128. The British Museum, .