Statue of Cesi Type Silenus

Statue of Cesi Type Silenus

Statue of Cesi Type Silenus

Statue of Cesi Type Silenus

The statue of a Silenus is placed on an ancient base not relevant, where a panther crouches with open jaws. The Silenus, crowned with ivy leaves and corymbs, rests on a trunk and is squeezing a wineskin propped on his right leg. The sculpture was used as a decorative element of the Cesi Cup in the mid-sixteenth century, when it was placed in a central position in the act of pouring water. The Silenus is inserted in a group of replicas in the round that however have the right foot resting on a rocky elevation, and not on a tree, it is possible to assume that even the Silenus Cesi in his original version had this same conformation. The sculpture is inspired by a prototype of difficult chronological framing: it is possible to suppose that it is an original Roman-era creation inspired by a motif made famous by Lysippus, or a model already created in the early Hellenistic period.

Inventory: MT 374

Material: White marble

Technique: Work sculpted through the use of: chisels (also square-tipped and toothed) rasps

Dating: Imperial age

Origin: Giustiniani Collection