Inv. Scu 627

This statue represents a young satyr.

He is shown nude with the exception of a nebris or panther skin that is tied upon his right shoulder and runs across his chest to drape his left shoulder and arm.

The satyr’s face, which is strongly rotated to the right, conveys the emotion he is experiencing in the moment depicted.

The weight of the sculpture is carried upon its right leg; the left moves forward into space as if the figure was about to step towards us.

The sculptor has skillfully managed to convey the effect of this movement throughout the figure’s body, which is slightly unbalanced.

This imbalance is made evident by the displacement of the right hip and the torsion of the torso.

The effect of movement is continued in the right arm, which is raised to uphold an apple (product of restoration) that the character seems to be gazing at. The left hand, which is mostly hidden in the folds of the panther skin, grasps a bunch of grapes.

The work dates to the middle of the Imperial period (138-160 d.C.) and is a copy an original attributed to the sculptor Praxiteles (active in the 4th century B.C.).

The work comes from “Villa di Antonino Pio“, in Lanuvio.