IMPERIAL PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.

On this highly convex ringstone, an entourage of three satyrs and a maenad work to raise an archaistic herm of Bacchus onto a circular plinth. The bearded herm wears a short chiton and holds a kantharoid jug. To the right a crouching nude satyr pulls on a rope tied around the statue, while his companion grips the herm at the base and by its arm. Behind the herm another satyr leans into it with his back, while a draped maenad pushes it from the shoulders. In the center of the background rises a tree, and the scene is on a groundline curving along the contour of the stone.

The same configuration of figures is present on a sarcophagus panel dating to circa 140-160 A.D. once also in the Sangiorgi Collection and now at Princeton (see no. 42 in J.M. Padgett, ed., Roman Sculpture in The Art Museum, Princeton University) and on a lamp (in reverse) in Berlin (no. 179 in C. Gasparri, "Dionysos/Bacchus," in LIMC, vol. III). Boardman and Wagner suggest the subject is based on a Hellenistic original, perhaps from a relief or painting, and that the Sangiorgi gem is likely the earliest surviving representation known.