Head of Satyr

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Taken from the description page for this sculpture at: http://collections.artsmia.org/art/81221/head-of-satyr-roman Head of Satyr, 1st century Romanexpand_more Rosso antico (red marble)expand_more GIFT OF DANIEL AND JACQUELINE ROSENTHALexpand_more 2006.110 G242expand_more Half man and half animal, satyrs were part of the entourage of Dionysus, the god of wine. They spent their time participating in revels, drinking, and chasing nymphs. This satyr's head is carved from red marble (rosso antico), quarried in the ancient area of Tainaron in the Peloponnesus, the peninsula south of mainland Greece. Because rosso antico is the color of red wine, it was often used for statues of Dionysus and his followers, both man and animal (such as satyrs, fauns, and goats). Colored marbles, not widely used in Greece until the Hellenistic period, began to appear in Rome in the 2nd century BCE. In fact, it was with the conquest of Greece, Asia Minor, and especially Egypt that the Romans developed a special taste for colored stones, to which they assigned specific meanings.