The statue shows Dionysos as a mature man; it was probably crowned with a long bearded head. The shoulders are covered with a symmetrically arranged mantle and a panther’s skin tied at the centre. The upper body is seen from the front, following the Greek artistic canon of the 6th century BC; but the balance of the body and the contrapposto pose evoke works of art from the early 5th century BC. The archaic air that this composition must have had in the 1st century AD had a purpose: to emphasise the primaeval age of the deity.
Marble analyses conducted by Danielle Decrouez (Geneva, Museum of Natural History) and Karl Ramseyer (University of Bern, Institute of Geological Sciences) have shown that the statue was made of Parian (Paros-Choriodaki) marble. Click here for the detailed results.
