Dionysus - Bacchus
Dionysus is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking and wine, of fertility, orchards and fruit, vegetation, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity and theatre in ancient Greek religion and myth.
He is also known as Bacchus, the name adopted by the Romans; the frenzy he induces is bakkheia. Another name used by the Romans is Liber meaning “free”, due to his association with wine and the Bacchanalia and other rites, and the freedom associated with it. His thyrsus, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. As Eleutherios ("the liberator"), his wine, music and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself.
Dionysus - Bacchus Stamp Collection
Greece 1954 The Dionysus Cup is the modern name for one of the best known works of ancient Greek vase painting, a kylix (drinking cup) dating to 540–530 BC.
It is one of the masterpieces of the Attic Black-figure potter Exekias and one of the most significant works in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich.
In the centre, a sailing ship is depicted, travelling from right to left. The prow of the ship is decorated like an animal's head, while the rudder is clearly discernable at the rear. Within the ship is a well over life sized figure, the god Dionysus. The sail, unlike the rest of the image, is painted white, a common stylistic element in the black figure style. Vines grow from the mast, with three large clusters of grapes on the right and four on the left. Dolphins swim below the ship—two towards the right, three towards the left—and a further dolphin is found on the right and the left hand sides of it. Although this is not realistic perspective, it could indicate that the dolphins are swimming around the ship. Like the vine, dolphins are symbols of Dionysos. In addition to this broad outline of the image, there are many detailed features. Two small dolphins are incised on the side of the ship. The long-haired, bearded god wears an ivy crown and holds a cornucopia in his hand. His tunic bears a fine pattern.
Greece 1966 Dionyssus dancing. 2500 Anniversary Of Greek Theatre.
This stunning Athenian red-figure amphora was decorated c. 490 by an artist known as the Kleophrades Painter
A bearded Dionysus is in the middle with an ivy wreath in his hair. He holds a vine in his left hand and in his right a kantharos (a deep drinking cup with high vertical handles). Over a broad chiton (long, lightweight garment, belted and with buttoned sleeve) and himation (mantle or cloak) he wears a panther pelt. To his right and left are maenads, who defend themselves against lusty satyrs (under the handle and on the other side) with the thyrsus (pinecone-tipped staff). The maenad on the left holds a snake. Note the outlines of the legs beneath the diaphanous drapery. The use of color throughout is striking—the dilute brown glaze for the panther skin, the snake, and the kantharos; the purple for the wreaths, the vine leaves, parts of the snake and the dots on the god’s ivy wreath.
Greece 1966 Dionyssus On Thespis chariot. 2500 Anniversary Of Greek Theatre.
On an Attic vase c. 490
Thespis of Icaria, according to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, was the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play (instead of speaking as themself). In other sources, he is said to have introduced the first principal actor in addition to the chorus.
Thespis was a singer of dithyrambs (songs about stories from mythology with choric refrains). He is credited with introducing a new style in which one singer or actor performed the words of individual characters in the stories, distinguishing between the characters with the aid of different masks.
This new style was called tragedy, and Thespis was the most popular exponent of it. Eventually, in 534 BC competitions to find the best tragedy were instituted at the City Dionysia in Athens, and Thespis won the first documented competition. Capitalising on his success, Thespis also invented theatrical touring;he would tour various cities while carrying his costumes, masks and other props in a horse-drawn wagon.
Found 26th September 1957. Now in the National Museum of Naples
Dionysus. Bronze. Found in the Tiber river-bed during the excavations for the foundation of a pier for the Ponte Garibaldi (1885).
Ajman 1972 Bronze statue of Bacchus, from Pompeii
Italy 1998 Bronze statue of Dionysus,
117—138 CE. Rome, Roman National Museum, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
The statue represents a nude youthful Dionysus standing on his right leg, with the left gently bending backward and resting on the ball of the foot. The head is slightly turned to the right, causing a light movement in the left shoulder and arm, which holds a thyrsus, the traditional attribute of the god. The long hair is parted in the center, fixed above the forehead by a hairpin decorated with grape-leaves, and spreads out in two wavy ribbons which cascade onto the shoulders. The pose shows a noticeable debt to the influence of Polycletus, while the movement of the head and the sinuous contours of the flanks indicate a familiarity with the works of Praxiteles. The composition relates to a famous model, the so-called Woburn Abbey type, created sometime in the middle of the fourth century BC, of which more than twenty copies and variants are known.
Bacchus is depicted as a naked man who appears to be entranced with his own creation. Its style of nudity is a combination of both ancient proportions and a style which is much more naturalistic. The eyes of Bacchus, staring at the cup of wine in his right hand, are squinted but have a sense of passion in them towards the wine. Bacchus is standing in a traditional pose, but due to his drunkenness he is leaning backwards. His mouth is gaped open and his eyes are rolling, creating a more natural illusion of being tipsy. The sculpture of Bacchus is in the round and contains a compelling sense of antiquity, similar to other sculptures of Bacchus such as Praxiteles' Dionysus.Due to weathering, this sculpture had taken quite a bit of damage over the years. The right hand containing the cup was replaced, the vine shoots had worn, and his penis had been removed.
Detail of the head of Bacchus, bronze Switzerland, Avenches, Musee Romain (Archaeological Museum), Roman art
Detail of the head of Bacchus by José de Ribera 1636 Museo del Prado
Maldives 1975 Bacchus (1496–1497) A marble sculpture by Michelangelo.
Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
Switzerland 1975 Bacchus Roman Bronze Statue (2nd Cty. AC)
Spain 1963 Detail of the Head of Bacchus, by José de Ribera (1591–1652)
Yemen Kingdom 1968 Adolescent Bacchus; by Guido Reni (1575-1642)
The Child Bacchus is a well-known painting from the Palatine Gallery, which the general public knows as a captivating and fascinating image. The young god, crowned with vine leaves and bunches of grapes and dressed in an animal skin, turns smiling towards the observer holding a large stand on which a glass cup full of white wine rests, from which he prepares to drinking. In the lower right corner, a putto holds another ceramic jug, of a type very common in Italy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A stuffed flask can be seen in the left corner.
Gambia 1993 Bacchus by Workshop of Leonardo da Vinci 1510–1515
Bacchus, formerly Saint John the Baptist, is a painting in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, based on a drawing by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is presumed to have been executed by an unknown follower, perhaps in Leonardo's workshop. The painting shows a male figure with garlanded head and leopard skin, seated in an idyllic landscape. He points with his right hand off to his left, and with his left hand grasps his thyrsus and also points down to earth. The painting originally depicted John the Baptist. In the late 17th century, between the years 1683 and 1693, it was overpainted and altered to serve as Bacchus.
Statue of Dionysus, east pediment. is lying on a leopard's skin on a rock. He is very athletic and has his legs apart.
Greece 1984 Statue of Dionysus in the Pediments of the Parthenon (east side)
Mosaic from Paphos, House of Dionysus C3rd A.D. Kato Paphos Archaeological Park.
The god Dionysus gifts grape and wine to the Athenian hero Icarius. The god and his Maenad nymph companion Acme are both crowned with wreaths of fruiting grapevines.
Cyprus 1964 Dionysus and the nymph Akme
Dominica 2010 Bacchus (c. 1596) by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610)
Cyprus 1964 Icarius is seen holding the reins of an ox-driven double wheeled cart, filled with sacks of wine. Further to the right, there are two shepherds in a state of inebriation. A sign identifies them as “the First Wine Drinkers”
Paraguay 1973 Bacchus (c. 1596) by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610)
The painting shows a youthful Bacchus reclining in classical fashion with grapes and vine leaves in his hair, fingering the drawstring of his loosely draped robe. On a stone table in front of him is a bowl of fruit and a large carafe of red wine. He holds out a shallow goblet of the same wine, inviting the viewer to join him. The painting is currently held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Cambodia 1985 Bacchus (c. 1596) by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610)
Dominica 1992 The Triumph of Bacchus . a painting by Diego Velázquez, 1628-1629 now in the Museo del Prado, in Madrid.
Paraguay 1970 The Triumph of Bacchus . a painting by Diego Velázquez, 1628-1629 now in the Museo del Prado, in Madrid.
In the work, Bacchus is represented as a person at the center of a small celebration, but his skin is paler than that of his companions, rendering him more easily recognizable. Unusually, the rest of the group, apart from the figure naked to the waist behind the god, are in the contemporary costume of poor people in 17th-century Spain. The work represents Bacchus as the god who rewards or gifts men with wine, temporarily releasing them from their problems. In Baroque literature, Bacchus was considered an allegory of the liberation of man from the slavery of daily life.
The scene can be divided in two halves. On the left, there is the very luminous Bacchus figure, his dominant but relaxed pose somewhat reminiscent of that of Christ in many Last Judgement scenes, who is often shown seated and naked to the waist. Bacchus and the character behind him are represented in the traditional loose robes used for depictions of classical myth. The idealization of the god's face is highlighted by the clear light which illuminates him in a more classicist style. The right side, however, presents some drunkards, men of the streets that invite us to join their party, with a very Spanish atmosphere similar to José de Ribera in style. There is no idealization present in their large and worn-out faces, though the figure kneeling in front of the god is younger and better dressed than the others, with a sword and tall boots. The light which illuminates Bacchus is absent on this side; the figures are shown with chiaroscuro and have much darker skin.
Mahra 1968 The Triumph of Bacchus . a painting by Diego Velázquez, 1628-1629 now in the Museo del Prado, in Madrid.
Spain 1939 The Triumph of Bacchus . a painting by Diego Velázquez, 1628-1629 now in the Museo del Prado, in Madrid.
Dominica 2010 The Young Sick Bacchus is an early self-portrait by the Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, dated between 1593 and 1594. It now hangs in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
Upper Yafa 1968 The Young Sick Bacchus by Caravaggio. The Block
Sarsina the Triumph of Dionysus, mosaic floor. Detail of the central part of the mosaic: Dionysus on a chariot pulled by two tigers and led by a satyr. Near Dionysus stands Pan. There is a circular frame all around the central clypeus, divided into squares and triangles, each one filled by one animal. The head of a Wind stands in every corner. On the left, three of the six panels represent several figures, like satyrs and menades.
Upper Yafa 1968 The Young Sick Bacchus by Caravaggio. The Stamp
Italy 2010 Sarsina 50th Anniversary of the Plautus festival. Ettore Paratore (1907-2000) ,Latinist.
Triumph of Dionysus in the mosaic with an old mask theater
Mosaic work representing Dionysus
Austria, Klagenfurt, (Acrhaeological and Art Museum), Roman art
Austria 1984 Centenary of the Carinthian State Museum . Mosaic work representing Dionysus
The Dionysian Mysteries were a ritual of ancient Greece and Rome which sometimes used intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques (like dance and music) to remove inhibitions and social constraints, liberating the individual to return to a natural state. It also provided some liberation for men and women marginalized by Greek society, among which are slaves, outlaws, and non-citizens. In their final phase the Mysteries shifted their emphasis from a chthonic, underworld orientation to a transcendental, mystical one, with Dionysus changing his nature accordingly. By its nature as a mystery religion reserved for the initiated, many aspects of the Dionysian cult remain unknown and were lost with the decline of Greco-Roman polytheism; modern knowledge is derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies.
The Dionysian Mysteries - frescoes of the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompei - in the middle Dionysus in the arms of Ariadne
Romania 1976 Dionysus and Hekate
Daco-Roman Archeological Treasures
from Banat, Romania
Algeria 1980 Dionysus mosaic - triumphal procession
Greece 1966 2500 Years Theatre - The Dionysus Theatre, Athens
Mosaic from Baths of Roman Setifis (shown in the "Setif Museum")
The Theatre of Dionysus is an ancient Greek theatre in Athens. It is built on the south slope of the Akropolis hill, originally part of the sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus (Dionysus the Liberator). The first orchestra terrace was constructed on the site around the mid- to late-sixth century BC, where it hosted the City Dionysia. The theatre reached its fullest extent in the fourth century BC under the epistates of Lycurgus when it would have had a capacity of up to 17,000, and was in continuous use down to the Roman period. The theatre then fell into decay in the Byzantine era and was not identified, excavated and restored to its current condition until the nineteenth century.