Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - Flute Player in Dionysian Costume

Preview image of work. terracotta, Flute Player in Dionysian Costume 1084

1908.18

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Flute Player in Dionysian Costume

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Artist

Artist Unidentified

Title

Flute Player in Dionysian Costume

Creation Date

200 BCE-1 BCE

Century

2nd-1st century BCE

Dimensions

13 3/16 in. (33.5 cm.)

Classification

Sculpture

Creation Place

Ancient Mediterranean, Greece

Medium and Support

terracotta

Credit Line

Gift of Edward Perry Warren, Esq., Honorary Degree, 1926

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

1908.18

This large terracotta figure depicts one of the followers of the wine god Dionysos, who was known to the Romans as Bacchus. The musician is nude except for an animal skin draped across his chest, a wreath on his head, and elaborate sandals laced to his feet. His flute is missing, but the position of his arms and hands give away the instrument’s position. The rites associated with Dionysus were characterized by frenzied dancing to the sound of loud music and crashing cymbals, in which the revelers, called Bacchantes, whirled, screamed, became drunk, and incited one another to greater and greater ecstasy.

Additional Media

front

left side

back

right side