Collection Online as of June 30, 2022

Dancing Satyr Group

500-475 BC

Part of a set. See all set records

Greece, Boeotia, early 5th Century BC

Painted terracotta

Overall: 8.4 x 11 x 5.6 cm (3 5/16 x 4 5/16 x 2 3/16 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 1992.352

Location

102C Greek

Fun Fact

Satyrs, or lustful, drunken woodland gods, are the biggest partiers in ancient Greek mythology.

Description

Part man and part beast, satyrs were mythical woodland creatures. In art, they were depicted with the ears and tail of a goat or horse, sometimes with hooves, and in a high state of sexual arousal. Satyrs often accompanied Dionysus, the god of wine, in his drinking bouts and other escapades. These three probably once decorated the rim of a large punch-bowl-shaped vessel for serving wine.

Provenance

Norbert Schimmel, NY

1992

Sotheby's, NY sale 12/16/92, no. 53

Norbert Schimmel, NY; (Sotheby's, NY sale 12/16/92, no. 53)

Citations

Hoffmann, H. "Some Unpublished Boeotian Satyr Terracottas," Antike Kunst vol. 7.2 (1964). pp. 67-71, pll. 18-21.

Muscarella, Oscar White. Ancient Art: The Norbert Schimmel Collection. Mainz: P. von Zabern, 1974. Cat. 46.

Settgast, Jürgen, Ulrich Gehrig, Eva Strommenger, and Klaus Vierneisel. Von Troja bis Amarna: the Norbert Schimmel collection, New York. Mainz: P. von Zabern, 1978. p. 99, cat. 86.

Hanfmann, George M. A. Classical Sculpture. London: Joseph, 1967. Color plate V (after p. 40), p. 301.

Mikolic, Amanda A Field Guide to Medieval Monsters. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019. Reproduced: p. 12

Exhibition history

Selected Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 9-April 11, 1993).

Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-October 6, 2019).