Statue of a Boy, torso restored as Dionysus as a child

Roman art

This sculpture portrays a boy holding a bunch of grapes in his right hand. His right arm is held out along his side. He holds up a small bowl in his left hand. The arms and attributes are not original and contribute to defining the sculpture as Dionysus as a child, which might not have been the original subject of the Borghese statue, the only ancient parts of which are the torso (in fragmentary state), part of the legs and the plinth. The theme of Dionysus-Bacchus as a child was especially popular during the Hellenistic period and was then widely adopted across the Roman world as a decorative subject. The Borghese sculpture might have originally been a portrait statue created for funerary purposes, as might be suggested by the bunch of grapes. Imagery of the deceased with a bunch of grapes was widespread in association with the death of children and adolescents across the Mediterranean basin starting in the Hellenistic period.

The sculpture might be one of the three with similar iconography that were described in the Villa Pinciana in the eighteenth century, two of which were later purchased by Napoleon Bonaparte and are now in the Louvre. It could, however, also be the small Bacchus listed in the inventory of sculptures in the family villa at Mondragone.

Object details

Commentary

This sculpture might be one of the three with similar iconography that were described in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by Manilli and Montelatici in the Villa di Porta Pinciana, in particular the one on the upper floor, in Room XIV, while the other two, displayed in the Portico, were later purchased by Napoleon Bonaparte and are now in the Louvre (inv. Ma 144; Ma 2248; Fabrèga-Dubert 2009, pp. 126–127, nos 250, 253). It could, however, also be the ‘Bacchus measuring about three and a half palmi tall’ listed in the inventory of sculptures in the Tuscolan villa at Mondragone in 1741, some of which were taken by Evasio Gozzani for the installation of the new collection in the Casino di Porta Pinciana in the 1820s (Moreno, Sforzini 1987, p. 346).

The sculpture portrays a child, standing with his weight on his right leg, his left leg slightly bent and moved to the side, creating the curve of his right side. His right arm is held out along his side, and he holds a bunch of grapes in his hand. The left arm is instead bent and raised, holding up a small bowl. The arms and attributes contribute to defining the subjects as Bacchus as a boy, inspired by a Dionysus type probably made in the circle of Praxiteles in the fourth century BCE and known from Roman copies in many variants, especially as a child. However, this might not have been the original subject of the Borghese sculpture, the only ancient parts of which are the torso (in fragmented state), part of the legs and the plinth. 

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 sculpture might have originally been an iconic statue created for funerary purposes, as possibly suggested by the bunch of grapes. Imagery of the deceased with a bunch of grapes was widespread in association with the death of children and adolescents, especially on stele starting in the second century BCE, initially in the Delos area and gradually across the entire Mediterranean basin. Most of the evidence is, however, from the Imperial period, including sarcophagi. Over time, the bunch of grapes lost is meaning as an emblem exclusive to children and started to be used for deceased adults as well. The bunch of grapes, far from a simple decorative motif, was often rich with meaning as a reference to the Dionysian cult (Bonzano, Sironi 2005, pp. 174–176). The cult of Bacchus, which emerged from the fusion of the (properly eschatological) Greek Dionysus with the Italic god Liber, had a strong funerary meaning. Bacchus was venerated as protector of the dead and guarantor of happiness in the afterlife, since he himself had died and been reborn, bringing his mother Semele back from the underworld. This is why, out of all the gods in the Greco-Roman pantheon, Dionysus-Bacchus is the one most often represented in Roman funerary art, often depicted with iconic features, as attested in the sources. Apuleius, for example, wrote of a woman who had her dead husband portrayed as the god Liber (Metam. 8.7.7). Another interesting case, from the second century, is that of Saturnino, for whom his parents had a sarcophagus prepared with an inscription remembering him in the guise of Dionysus. In the statue, the boy is shown holding a bunch of grapes in his right hand and a bowl in his left, just like the present sculpture (Jaccottet 2003, p. 301).

The use of the engaged plinth and the workmanship of the torso suggest a date for the Borghese statue in the first century CE.

Jessica Clementi