Nymph and Dionysos’ figurine

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Provision of image

Inventory number

Ακρ. 1442

Category

Coroplastic

Period

Classical Period

Date

End of 5th-beginning of 4th cent. BC

Dimensions

Height: 0.131 m
Length: 0.074 m

Material

Clay

Location

First Floor Case 33, Νο 3

Description
Bibliography

Figurine that shows a Nymph holding infant Dionysos. It was found in 1875 to the south of the Propylaia.

The Nymph sits on a rock and she turns her head back. With her right arm she holds infant Dionysos, who is wrapped in a cloth, on her lap. The posture of her body as well as the move she makes with her head and left arm have been interpreted as indicating that the Nymph, scared, attempts to protect Dionysos from some form of threat. The Nymphs and Silenus are considered Dionysos’ caretakers. They were the ones Zeus delivered the baby to, in order to protect it from the rage of his wife Hera, since the baby Dionysos was the result of his lovemaking with the mortal Semele.

Traces of white slip are preserved all over the surface.

Winter, F., Die antiken Terrakotten. Die Typen der figürlichen Terrakotten, III, 2, Berlin, Stuttgart, 1903, σελ. 140, εικ. σχ. 7, αρ. κατ. 7
Casson, S., Brooke, D., Catalogue of the Acropolis Museum. Sculpture and Architectural Fragments, with a section upon the Terracottas, II, Cambridge, 1921, σελ. 394, αρ. κατ. 1442
Μπρούσκαρη, Μ., Μουσείον Ακροπόλεως. Περιγραφικός κατάλογος, Αθήνα, 1974, σελ. 124, εικ. 232
Nicholls, R.V., «The Stele-Goddess Workshop: Terracottas from Well U 13:1, in the Athenian Agora», Hesperia 64, 1995, σελ. 453-454, εικ. 111
Vlassopoulou, Chr., «Les figurines de l' Acropole d' Athènes. La collection du Musée de l' Acropole», στο A. Pasquier, V.L. Aravantinos (επιμ.), Tanagra: Mythe et archéologie. Musée du Louvre, Paris, 15 septembre 2003 - 5 janvier 2004, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, 5 février – 9 mai 2004, Paris, 2003, σελ. 141, αρ. κατ. 88