Statue of a Dancing Satyr

Roman art

This statue, which is heavily restored, portrays a semi-wild creature dancing and playing the cymbals. The twist of the torso identifies the figure as a satyr or another member of the Dionysian procession in a state of delirious drunkenness, caught up in an orgiastic dance. This theme inspired various sculptures in the Hellenistic period that are quite different from one another, while sharing some features in common. The Borghese example is especially close to the small bronze Dancing Faun found in the House of the Faun in Pompeii, dating to the Imperial period. The model for these works has been identified as the dancing satyr of Toinia of Sicyon, a bronze sculpture made in the tradition of Lysippos and dedicated in Pergamon in about 200 BCE.

The present sculpture might be the Dancing Faun that Domenico Montelatici described in the second enclosure. Initially displayed in Room VI (now Room VIII) when the new collection was installed, it has been in the Salone since 1833.

Object details

Commentary

This sculpture might be the ‘dancing Faun with two cymbals in its hands’ that Domenico Montelatici described in the second enclosure along with other statues in the Piazza della Prospettiva in the eighteenth century, although that sculpture could also be the one with similar iconography that was in the Casino pinciano and moved in 1832 to the Villa di Bell’Aspetto at Nettuno (Moreno, Viacava 2003, pp. 129–131, no. 94), which was built in 1660 by Cardinal Costaguti and, after changing ownership a number of times, was purchased in 1832 by Prince Camillo Borghese. In the guide to the Borghese collection published in 1832, Antonio Nibby listed the sculpture in Room VI (now Room VIII), while the Inventario Fidecommissario of the following year reported it in the Salone, its current location.

The only parts of the original satyr that have been preserved are the torso and the join of the tail, while the lower legs down to mid-thigh, the tail, the arms, the neck and the head, as well as the plinth and the trunk, were added when the work was restored, creating a wild creature dancing while playing the cymbals.

The theme of the dancing satyr inspired various sculptures in the Hellenistic period that are quite different from one another, interpreting the same subject in different ways, while sharing some features in common. The present sculpture, which was initially believed to be the satyr from the famous group known as the ‘Invitation to the Dance’ (most recently Tuccinardi 2020), is instead marked by the upward orientation and twist of the ancient torso, which creates muscular tension in the belly, aligning the figure with those of satyrs and other members of the Dionysian thiasus, portrayed in a state of delirious drunkenness, caught up in an orgiastic dance. The original equilibrium of the sculpture, which was that of a dancing figure, reveals its similarity to a terracotta from Taranto unearthed in a Hellenistic tomb in that same city (I.G. 4103, De Juliis, Loiacono 1985, p. 384, fig. 471) and, most importantly, the small bronze of a dancing faun found in the house of the Faun in Pompeii, dated to the Imperial period (MANN inv. 5002; Fuchs 1993, p. 137, figs 127–128; Simon 1997, p. 1131, no. 233). This iconography is also found in two marble statues from the first century BCE, found in the Antikythera shipwreck and now in the National Museum, Athens (Bol 1972, pp. 72–73, no. 30, pl. 41, 1–3, pp. 73–74, no. 50, pl. 41, 4–5) as well as a torso in Parian marble from the Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis, now in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania (MS 3466, Bilde, Moltesen 2002, pp. 23–24, figs 18–20). The archetype for this rich iconographic tradition was identified by Paolo Moreno as the Dancing Satyr (Skìrtos) of Toinia of Sicyon, a bronze work in the tradition of Lysippos that was dedicated in Pergamon in about 200 BCE by General Dionysodoros, immortalising the rare demon, part of the Dionysian entourage, practising his jump (Moreno 1994, p. 292; Moreno 1999).

This type, marked by spasmodic tension and total abandonment to the dance, was very popular from the middle and late Hellenistic period to Imperial Rome, and also found in sculpture relief, vase painting and carved hard stone. The subject was well suited to the decoration of domestic spaces and, in particular, the gardens and horti of suburban villas. The soft, painstaking modelling of the torso of the Borghese sculpture suggests a date in the second century CE.

Jessica Clementi