360–350 BC
Greek, South Italian (Apulia)
Ceramics
Containers-Vessels
terracotta
Overall: 12 × 13 1/2 in. (30.48 × 34.29 cm)
82.182

The central figure of this scene is none other than the god of theatre and wine, Dionysos. He sits holding a thyrsus (a staff surmounted by a pine cone) in one hand while offering a libation bowl (phiale) to the actor standing in front of him; behind the god, stands a satyr, a half-human, half-horse follower of Dionysos. The actor wears a theatrical mask with exaggerated features similar to those on the nearby actor figures.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. George R. Stevenson
“The Art of South Italy: Vases from Magna Graecia,” Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond, VA): 12 May-8 August 1982; Philbrook Art Center (Tulsa, OK): 20 November 1982-9 January 1983; The Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI): 7 February-10 April 1983.

Summa Galleries, Auction 1 (BGeverly Hills 18 Sept. 1981), no. 24.

Margaret E. Mayo. "Tradition and Imagination: five cewntureis of Greek ceramic Art," Apollo vol. CXXII, no. 286 (Dec. 1985), p. 33, fig. no. 17.
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

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