On this flat oval ringstone, an ithyphallic satyr approaches an excited donkey from behind, lifting the animal's tail. The subject of a satyr violating an animal was popular in Greek art by the 6th century B.C. (see for example the Attic black-figured kyathos in the British Museum with a satyr copulating with a deer, color pl. 26 in C. John, Sex or Symbol?, Erotic Images of Greece and Rome) and continued in popularity well into the Roman Imperial period.
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Masterpieces in Miniature: Ancient Engraved Gems formerly in the G. Sangiorgi Collection Part III
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