Original scientific paper
A relief depicting youthful Dionysus/ Bacchus or Liber from Salona
Zrinka Buljević
orcid.org/0000-0003-3037-1876
; Arheološki muzej u Splitu, Split, Hrvatska
Abstract
The relief panel depicting young Bacchus comes from Salona; it was found before 1894. It is kept in the Archaeological Museum in Split (inv. no. AMS-D-85). The Greek god Dionysus, or the Roman Bacchus or Liber can be recognized owing to the attributes, that is iconography. Liber, or Liber Pater, is an Italic god assimilated over time to the Greek Dionysus. His cult is well attested in the Roman province of Dalmatia. With the spread of the cult of Dionysus during Hellenism, his cult images, which are a reflection of earlier Greek originals, continued to be copied by the Romans. Given that the relief from Salona probably decorated some local shrine of the god Liber, possibly it could be his supposed temple, the one opposite the theater, in the 2nd–3rd century AD.
Keywords
Dionysus; Bacchus; Liber; young man; wreath; panther; kantharos; vine; tree stump; Salona; Dalmatia
Hrčak ID:
311725
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2023.
Visits: 799 *