Piping and Dancing Satyr
Unknown Artist
300–100 BCE
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
h. 21 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1945.366
About this artwork
With its long limbs and unbalanced pose, this bronze statuette captures a male figure in the middle of a dance. His pointed ears, snub nose, and berry crown mark him as a satyr, a part-man, part-horse follower of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and revelry. He probably once held auloi (musical pipes), to judge from the placement and shape of his right hand, plus the strap around his mouth; his left arm is now missing. Composed of multiple cast pieces joined together, the dynamic pose of this sta...