The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Dancing Satyr

500–475 BCE

Greece, Boeotia

painted terracotta
Overall: 9.5 x 8 x 5.5 cm (3 3/4 x 3 1/8 x 2 3/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1992.352.2
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
  • 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=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1992.352.2