DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45927#0111
9.2 Mythological Sculpture
109
well-known Silenoi from the Canopus of Hadrian’s Villa, used as supporting figures for the entablature,482 a
torso in a private collection in Capri (said to be also from this Villa),483 and a statue in Petworth House484 of
the early 2nd century A.D. and of unknown find-location. The earliest torso in this series in the Vatican - again
without find-location - dates to the 1st century B.C. according to C. Vorster.485
In this motif, Silenus is dressed in the loin-cloth of sacrificial servants which is tied - on the Ephesian torso
and on the Silenoi from the Hadrian’s Villa - under the paunch, the Ephesian torso featuring a zigzag-shaped
end between the legs.486 The Silenus puts one leg foward, while the hip of the weight-bearing leg bulges out.
The Silenoi from Hadrian’s Villa, the Silenus in Petworth House and a fragmentary statuette from a Roman
house in Aventicum balance an object on their head, a fruit basket or a liknon.™1 The Ephesian torso, like the
Vatican torso and the statuette from Aventicum, raises only one arm, and its head is only partially preserved, so
its original position and activity remain unclear, strictly speaking. The motif of the basket filled with objects is
repeated in the top of the unusual support of the Ephesian Silenus, an open basket displaying a phallus below a
lunula, sitting on a bulging vase which itself rests on a tripod.488 A puntello in the Ephesian torso’s left armpit
points to an attribute (a thyrsos?) in this arm. Apart from its muscular right upper arm, only the pectoral mus-
cles and the coastal arch of the Ephesian torso are accentuated, while the navel is deeply drilled. Compared to
the rather schematic rendering of the drapery of the loin-cloth, the preserved hair of the beard is finely carved,
exclusively with the chisel. The beard is shaped as a compact mass of hair, differing from the arrangement of
single locks of the heads of the Silenoi from Hadrian’s Villa and in Petworth House.
The arrangement of the loin-cloth recalls the statues from Hadrian’s Villa. Stylistically, the rendering of the
beard and the rather crude drillwork in the folds of the cloth is paralleled by a fragmentary Ephesian replica
of the “Dresden Zeus” and by figures from slabs of the Parthian Monument, which point to a Hadrianic/early
Antonine date for the Silenus from the Bouleuterion.489
Silenoi are often represented in theaters,490 but there are, as far as I know, no records for Silenoi displayed
in Bouleuteria/Odeia.491 The iconographical motif described above and the attributes of the Silenoi evoke the
atmosphere of Dionysiac mysteries.492 The original setting of free-standing Roman sculpture of this kind is to
be expected in villas, gardens and the private realm, rather than in an official Roman building, the meeting
place of the boule or other civic bodies. 493 Therefore, the Silenus was probably added later to the decoration
of the Vedius scaenae frons (if at all).
examples in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and in the London art market, Raeder 2000, 103. 105 note 8, no. 2
and 4.
482 Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, Museum 2249: for example Raeder 1983, 85 cat. I 81-82 pl. 22. 24; Aurigemma 1961, 116 fig. 100-102.
118 fig. 107-109; recently Hesberg 2007, 68-70 fig. 2.
483 Capri, Private Collection: Raeder 2000, 105 note 8, no. 3; Schmidt 1982, 214 note 768 pl. 35, 3.
484 Petworth House, Little Dining Room no. 54, cf. Raeder 2000, 103-105 cat. 27 pl. 38-39.
485 Rome, Vatican, Museo Gregoriano Profano 9898, cf. Vorster 2004, 48-49 cat. 18 pl. 24, 2. 3; 25.
486 For the loin-cloth tied centrally under the paunch cf. Mandel 2005, 214.
487 A fruit basket on the statues from Hadrian’s Villa, Raeder 1983, 85 cat. I 81-82 pl. 22. 24, a liknon on the statue in Petworth
House, Raeder 2000, 103-105 cat. 27 pl. 38-39, and on the 1st century A.D. statuette from Aventicum, Avenches, Musee romain
1866/1298, cf. Bossert 1983, 20-21 cat. 7 pl. 8 and Bossert 1998, 29. 118. 132-133 note 13 cat. Rs 7 pl. 41. The right arm of the
Silenus from Aventicum is bent, not stretched as on the Ephesian Silenus.
488 Aurenhammer 1990, 75.
489 For the beard, cf. the replica of the “Dresden Zeus“ from Ephesos, Izmir, Arkeoloji Miizesi 554, cf. Aurenhammer 1990, cat. 109
pl. 76 b. c, and the head of a river-god from the Parthian Monument, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum I 1659, cf. Landskron
2006, 113-114 fig. 20; Oberleitner 2009, 105-107 cat. FR 20 fig. 184. 186. For the crude drillwork, compare for example the
figure of “Demeter” from the Parthian Monument, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum I 861; cf. Oberleitner 2009, 125-127 cat.
FR 26 fig. 223. 225 (compare the folds of the himation on her right arm).
490 Silenoi in theaters: for example Schwingenstein 1977, 35-40; Fuchs 1987, 128-131. 135. 137. 142. 192; Mandel 2005,
207-227.
491 For the plinth of a statue-group of Marsyas and Olympos (?) from the building at Ptolemais, cf. Balty 1991, 498 note 340; Sich-
termann 1959, 340-341 fig. 101. The function of the building (Bouleuterion or Odeion) is disputed. According to Caputo 1954,
458-466 fig. 1-3, the statues of Athena and “Tyche” were found in the portico behind (in the west) of the stage building. R. G.
Goodchild - C. H. Kraeling in: Kraeling 1962, 93 and D. M. Brinkerhoff in: Kraeling 1962, 183-184 mention several statues,
among them the aforementioned and the plinth, as having been found “in the odeion”.
492 Raeder 2000, 103.
493 For the setting, cf. Raeder 2000, 103-104. This is documented by the two (or three) Silenoi from Hadrian’s Villa and the statuette
109
well-known Silenoi from the Canopus of Hadrian’s Villa, used as supporting figures for the entablature,482 a
torso in a private collection in Capri (said to be also from this Villa),483 and a statue in Petworth House484 of
the early 2nd century A.D. and of unknown find-location. The earliest torso in this series in the Vatican - again
without find-location - dates to the 1st century B.C. according to C. Vorster.485
In this motif, Silenus is dressed in the loin-cloth of sacrificial servants which is tied - on the Ephesian torso
and on the Silenoi from the Hadrian’s Villa - under the paunch, the Ephesian torso featuring a zigzag-shaped
end between the legs.486 The Silenus puts one leg foward, while the hip of the weight-bearing leg bulges out.
The Silenoi from Hadrian’s Villa, the Silenus in Petworth House and a fragmentary statuette from a Roman
house in Aventicum balance an object on their head, a fruit basket or a liknon.™1 The Ephesian torso, like the
Vatican torso and the statuette from Aventicum, raises only one arm, and its head is only partially preserved, so
its original position and activity remain unclear, strictly speaking. The motif of the basket filled with objects is
repeated in the top of the unusual support of the Ephesian Silenus, an open basket displaying a phallus below a
lunula, sitting on a bulging vase which itself rests on a tripod.488 A puntello in the Ephesian torso’s left armpit
points to an attribute (a thyrsos?) in this arm. Apart from its muscular right upper arm, only the pectoral mus-
cles and the coastal arch of the Ephesian torso are accentuated, while the navel is deeply drilled. Compared to
the rather schematic rendering of the drapery of the loin-cloth, the preserved hair of the beard is finely carved,
exclusively with the chisel. The beard is shaped as a compact mass of hair, differing from the arrangement of
single locks of the heads of the Silenoi from Hadrian’s Villa and in Petworth House.
The arrangement of the loin-cloth recalls the statues from Hadrian’s Villa. Stylistically, the rendering of the
beard and the rather crude drillwork in the folds of the cloth is paralleled by a fragmentary Ephesian replica
of the “Dresden Zeus” and by figures from slabs of the Parthian Monument, which point to a Hadrianic/early
Antonine date for the Silenus from the Bouleuterion.489
Silenoi are often represented in theaters,490 but there are, as far as I know, no records for Silenoi displayed
in Bouleuteria/Odeia.491 The iconographical motif described above and the attributes of the Silenoi evoke the
atmosphere of Dionysiac mysteries.492 The original setting of free-standing Roman sculpture of this kind is to
be expected in villas, gardens and the private realm, rather than in an official Roman building, the meeting
place of the boule or other civic bodies. 493 Therefore, the Silenus was probably added later to the decoration
of the Vedius scaenae frons (if at all).
examples in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and in the London art market, Raeder 2000, 103. 105 note 8, no. 2
and 4.
482 Tivoli, Hadrian’s Villa, Museum 2249: for example Raeder 1983, 85 cat. I 81-82 pl. 22. 24; Aurigemma 1961, 116 fig. 100-102.
118 fig. 107-109; recently Hesberg 2007, 68-70 fig. 2.
483 Capri, Private Collection: Raeder 2000, 105 note 8, no. 3; Schmidt 1982, 214 note 768 pl. 35, 3.
484 Petworth House, Little Dining Room no. 54, cf. Raeder 2000, 103-105 cat. 27 pl. 38-39.
485 Rome, Vatican, Museo Gregoriano Profano 9898, cf. Vorster 2004, 48-49 cat. 18 pl. 24, 2. 3; 25.
486 For the loin-cloth tied centrally under the paunch cf. Mandel 2005, 214.
487 A fruit basket on the statues from Hadrian’s Villa, Raeder 1983, 85 cat. I 81-82 pl. 22. 24, a liknon on the statue in Petworth
House, Raeder 2000, 103-105 cat. 27 pl. 38-39, and on the 1st century A.D. statuette from Aventicum, Avenches, Musee romain
1866/1298, cf. Bossert 1983, 20-21 cat. 7 pl. 8 and Bossert 1998, 29. 118. 132-133 note 13 cat. Rs 7 pl. 41. The right arm of the
Silenus from Aventicum is bent, not stretched as on the Ephesian Silenus.
488 Aurenhammer 1990, 75.
489 For the beard, cf. the replica of the “Dresden Zeus“ from Ephesos, Izmir, Arkeoloji Miizesi 554, cf. Aurenhammer 1990, cat. 109
pl. 76 b. c, and the head of a river-god from the Parthian Monument, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum I 1659, cf. Landskron
2006, 113-114 fig. 20; Oberleitner 2009, 105-107 cat. FR 20 fig. 184. 186. For the crude drillwork, compare for example the
figure of “Demeter” from the Parthian Monument, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum I 861; cf. Oberleitner 2009, 125-127 cat.
FR 26 fig. 223. 225 (compare the folds of the himation on her right arm).
490 Silenoi in theaters: for example Schwingenstein 1977, 35-40; Fuchs 1987, 128-131. 135. 137. 142. 192; Mandel 2005,
207-227.
491 For the plinth of a statue-group of Marsyas and Olympos (?) from the building at Ptolemais, cf. Balty 1991, 498 note 340; Sich-
termann 1959, 340-341 fig. 101. The function of the building (Bouleuterion or Odeion) is disputed. According to Caputo 1954,
458-466 fig. 1-3, the statues of Athena and “Tyche” were found in the portico behind (in the west) of the stage building. R. G.
Goodchild - C. H. Kraeling in: Kraeling 1962, 93 and D. M. Brinkerhoff in: Kraeling 1962, 183-184 mention several statues,
among them the aforementioned and the plinth, as having been found “in the odeion”.
492 Raeder 2000, 103.
493 For the setting, cf. Raeder 2000, 103-104. This is documented by the two (or three) Silenoi from Hadrian’s Villa and the statuette
