Italian Tuscan Renaissance Carved Marble Grotesque Mask Depicting Silenus
An Italian Tuscan Renaissance Carved Marble Grotesque Mask Depicting Silenus the God of Wine with the Ears of a Donkey Open Mouth and Flabby Cheeks
Perhaps an architectural element such as a key-stone
16th Century
Size: 19.5cm high, 21cm wide, 4.5cm deep - 7¾ ins high, 8¼ ins wide, 1¾ ins deep / 22cm high - 8¾ ins high (with base)
Perhaps an architectural element such as a key-stone
16th Century
Size: 19.5cm high, 21cm wide, 4.5cm deep - 7¾ ins high, 8¼ ins wide, 1¾ ins deep / 22cm high - 8¾ ins high (with base)
An Italian Tuscan Renaissance Carved Marble Grotesque Mask Depicting Silenus the God of Wine with the Ears of a Donkey Open Mouth and Flabby Cheeks
Perhaps an architectural element such as a key-stone
16th Century
Size: 19.5cm high, 21cm wide, 4.5cm deep - 7¾ ins high, 8¼ ins wide, 1¾ ins deep / 22cm high - 8¾ ins high (with base)
Perhaps an architectural element such as a key-stone
16th Century
Size: 19.5cm high, 21cm wide, 4.5cm deep - 7¾ ins high, 8¼ ins wide, 1¾ ins deep / 22cm high - 8¾ ins high (with base)
Silenus was a primitive deity of the woodland and the fountains whom people tried to catch in order to make him prophesy and sing to them. The son of Hermés and a Nymph, or of Pan, as the oldest of the Satyrs he was added to the train of Dionysus and was regarded as his teacher, trainer and constant companion. He is said to have prompted the god to invent the cultivation of the vine and the keeping of bees. He is described as a little old man, pot bellied with a bald head, snub nose, large donkey or ass’s ears, and with his whole body very hairy. He was usually drunk and had to be supported by his satyrs or by his donkey. When intoxicated Silenus was said to possess special knowledge and the power of prophecy.
Ex Canadian collection of the late Mavor Moore (1919 - 2006) Writer Actor and Producer
Thence by descent
Thence by descent
Italian Tuscan Renaissance Carved Marble Grotesque Mask Depicting Silenus
SOLD
