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Statue of a Young Satyr Wearing a Theater Mask of Silenus

A stone sculpture of a very young, infant-like child standing and wearing a mask in the shape of an older, bearded man. The child pushes its tiny hand through the mask's mouth hole.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A stone sculpture of a very young, infant-like child standing and wearing a mask in the shape of an older, bearded man. The child pushes its tiny hand through the mask's mouth hole.

Date:

About 1st century, restored 1628

Artist:

Roman, with restorations by Alessandro Algardi (Italian, 1598-1654)

About this artwork

A young satyr - a mythical creature, part human and part goat - thrusts his hand through the mouth of a theater mask of Silenus (an old satyr) in a gesture that is both mischievous and menacing. This work was likely originally paired with another statue of a child satyr, perhaps shown recoiling in fear at his companion’s actions.

In 1628 sculptor Alessandro Algardi added the base, tree trunk, both ears, the left leg, and part of the right leg to this statue. Collectors of this period valued complete works of art and hired artists like Algardi to restore fragmentary ancient sculptures. Since they did not know precisely what the works looked like in antiquity, sculptors often restored works according to their patrons’ tastes.

Status

On View, Gallery 150

Department

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Culture

Ancient Roman

Title

Statue of a Young Satyr Wearing a Theater Mask of Silenus

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1 CE–100 CE

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

58.4 × 50.8 × 23.4 cm (23 × 20 × 9 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Anonymous loan

Reference Number

4.2014

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/221975/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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