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Dancing satyr (“Invitation to Dance” group)
Description
The satyr performs a dance step in front of a nymph, marking the measure with a percussion instrument attached under his foot, the kroupezai. The statue's base and body are antique, but the head and arms, including the crotales (cymbals) he holds in his hands, are 16th-century.
2. Stylistic affinity with sculptures from the donarium at Pergamon suggests that the archetype was created in the mid-2nd century BC. The group of dancing satyr and seated nymph is found on a reverse coin minted in Cyzique, Bithynia, opening up the possibility that the archetype still existed in Cyzique in imperial times.
The present replica, which dates from the 1st century AD, is recorded in the early 16th century in the collection of Eurialo Silvestri, chamberlain to Pope Paul III; mentioned by Aldovrandi (1556), it passed to the Villa Giulia, was purchased by the Medici at the end of the 16th century; transported to Florence in the early 17th, placed on the Tribune in the last years of the 17th century.
3. The dancing satyr is matched by a seated nymph. In imperial times, this group was reproduced several times to adorn villas and luxury residences. It is also found in thermal baths. There are 31 known replicas of the satyr, and 38 of the nymph.
Technical Data
Notice #025714
