DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15095#0087
PLATE XXVII.
A terminal head of the bearded Bacchus ; it is executed in a very
ancient style of sculpture, but the workmanship is good : and the
countenance is expressive of that blended dignity and benevolence
which usually characterize the representations of this deity.
The head is crowned with a broad diadem, the front part of
which is scarcely visible, as the hair upon the forehead is turned
back, and nearly conceals it. The long tresses descending on each
shoulder, are similar to those we frequently see in the representa-
tions of the Indian Bacchus ; but the hair which adorns the sides
of the head, just below the temples, is worthy of particular remark.
It is in small round curls, carefully disposed in such a manner as
to resemble the form of a bunch of grapes. This fruit, we know,
was frequently intermixed with the hair of Bacchus, whence he was
called [ioT(>voxxtTYis{i), and an example of this kind occurs on a mask
of Bacchus in this Collection. The beard is in the form of a wedge, (2)
a form not uncommon in the very early representations of the
deities.
This head is in remarkably fine preservation, and has not received
any modern restoration whatever. It was formerly in the Collec-
tion of Cardinal Alexander Albani at Rome, and was brought to
England by Mr. Lyde Browne.
Height, 1 foot inches.
1 Hymn, in Bacchum, v. 3. Anthol. Grac. torn. in. p. 217- Edit. Jacobs.
Artemidori Oneirocrit. lib. n. c. 37.
A terminal head of the bearded Bacchus ; it is executed in a very
ancient style of sculpture, but the workmanship is good : and the
countenance is expressive of that blended dignity and benevolence
which usually characterize the representations of this deity.
The head is crowned with a broad diadem, the front part of
which is scarcely visible, as the hair upon the forehead is turned
back, and nearly conceals it. The long tresses descending on each
shoulder, are similar to those we frequently see in the representa-
tions of the Indian Bacchus ; but the hair which adorns the sides
of the head, just below the temples, is worthy of particular remark.
It is in small round curls, carefully disposed in such a manner as
to resemble the form of a bunch of grapes. This fruit, we know,
was frequently intermixed with the hair of Bacchus, whence he was
called [ioT(>voxxtTYis{i), and an example of this kind occurs on a mask
of Bacchus in this Collection. The beard is in the form of a wedge, (2)
a form not uncommon in the very early representations of the
deities.
This head is in remarkably fine preservation, and has not received
any modern restoration whatever. It was formerly in the Collec-
tion of Cardinal Alexander Albani at Rome, and was brought to
England by Mr. Lyde Browne.
Height, 1 foot inches.
1 Hymn, in Bacchum, v. 3. Anthol. Grac. torn. in. p. 217- Edit. Jacobs.
Artemidori Oneirocrit. lib. n. c. 37.