The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Dancing Satyr

500–475 BCE

Greece, Boeotia

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 1992.352.1
Location: 102C Greek

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.
  • 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)
  • Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79. Mentioned: p. 65 www.jstor.org
    Mikolic, Amanda. A Field Guide to Medieval Monsters. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019. Reproduced: p. 12
  • Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-October 6, 2019).
  • {{cite web|title=Dancing Satyr|url=false|author=|year=500–475 BCE|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1992.352.1