Bas-relief with Mask

myminifactory

The bas-relief showcases a profile figure with flowing hair, adorned with a diadem featuring grape leaves and bunches of grapes. The head rests on a wicker basket partially shrouded by a goatskin. Originally part of the Cesi Collection, it later joined the Ludovisi Collection, where 17th-century account books refer to it as "a figure of Bacchus." More likely, however, this depiction represents the face of a maenad or bacchante, a woman devoted to Dionysian cults. Evidence supporting this interpretation includes numerous Dionysian symbols: goatskin, vine tendrils, basket, and diadem. The choice of red marble and the relief's resemblance to theatre masks further allude to Dionysus, god of wine and theatre. Two holes corresponding to the eye and mouth suggest the slab was used for water passage, likely part of a fountain decoration within a large bath complex. Stylistic characteristics and rosso antico marble from Greece pinpoint the work to the Hadrianean period, specifically the first half of the 2nd century AD.