Hope Dionysus
Encyclopedia
The Hope Dionysus is a 82 1/4 in. (2.1 m) high statue of Dionysus
, the god of wine, wearing a panther
skin and casually stretching his left arm over a smaller figure of a woman, who is Neo Attic or archaic in pose.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grsc/ho_1990.247.htm
It dates to between 27 BC
and 68 AD
. It was once owned by the 18th Century English antiquities collector Thomas Hope, hence the name, and later belonged to a descendant of Benjamin Franklin
, before being acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in 1990.http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/perspective/chi-0704270835apr29,0,2636409.story?coll=chi-newsopinionperspective-utl
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
, the god of wine, wearing a panther
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
skin and casually stretching his left arm over a smaller figure of a woman, who is Neo Attic or archaic in pose.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grsc/ho_1990.247.htm
It dates to between 27 BC
27 BC
Year 27 BC was either a common year starting on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday or a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
and 68 AD
68
Year 68 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asconius and Thraculus...
. It was once owned by the 18th Century English antiquities collector Thomas Hope, hence the name, and later belonged to a descendant of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, before being acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in 1990.http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/perspective/chi-0704270835apr29,0,2636409.story?coll=chi-newsopinionperspective-utl