Head of Dionysus as a Child, on a non-ancient bust

Roman art

This head, which is set on a non-ancient bust, portrays a boy with a plump face and flowing hair that comes down over his ears. A large ivy crown, with branches intertwined over the figure’s forehead, almost entirely covers his hair, contributing to the definition of the subject as Dionysus/Bacchus as a child, to whom ivy was as sacred as the grape vine. The theme of Dionysus/Bacchus as a child was especially popular during the Hellenistic period and was then adopted across the Roman world as decoration. The Borghese head can be interpreted as a Roman work that freely interprets models from the circle of Lysippos in the fourth century BCE. Iconographic and stylistic analysis suggest that it was carved by the first century CE.

Object details

Commentary

Of unknown provenance, this sculpture was documented for the first time by Nibby, who noted that it was in the portico, set on a ‘black granitello’ column, as it is still displayed today.

This head, which is set on a non-ancient bust, portrays a boy, turned to the right, with a plump face and flowing hair that comes down over his ears. A large ivy crown, with branches intertwined over the figure’s forehead, almost entirely covers his hair, contributing to the definition of the subject as Dionysus/Bacchus as a child, to whom ivy was as sacred as the grape vine. The sculpture was inspired by a Dionysus type probably traceable to the circle of Lysippos in the fourth century BCE.

The long, wavy, comma-shaped locks on the forehead and the neck are similar to those of the head of Dionysus in Venice, formerly in the Grimani Collection (Museo archeologico, inv. 127B; De Paoli 2004), which some scholars have argued was modelled on a work by Lysippus, possibly the seated statue of the god that Pausanis and Lucian reported on Helicon.

The theme of Bacchus as a child, like those of Heracles and Hermes as children, was especially popular during the Hellenistic period, in particular in connection with rococo taste (Klein 1921, p. 133ff). It was then widely adopted across the Roman world for use as decoration. Examples of the latter are found in the statuettes of Dionysus as a child in the Doria-Pamphilj Collection (Pensabene 1977, no. 96; Palma 1977, no. 97).

The Borghese head can be interpreted as a creation of urban workshops that freely interpreted models from the fourth century BCE during the Imperial period. Stylistic and iconographic elements (in particular the handling of the two levels of long, wavy locks of hair that radiate out from the top of the head and the rendering of the eyes, with thick, well-defined eyelids, features typical of Julio-Claudian portraiture) suggest that it was carved by the first century CE.

Jessica Clementi