Head of DionysosLate Hellenistic or Late Republican, 1st century BCGreek or Roman (Culture)Terracott

• Head of Dionysos
• Late Hellenistic or Late Republican, 1st century BC
• Greek or Roman (Culture)
• Terracotta
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Dionysos, god of wine and the pleasures it can bring, was extremely popular during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The Greek kings who ruled the lands conquered by Alexander the Great took him as patron deity, and the Romans, impressed by the luxury and wealth of those kingdoms, filled their private villas with images of the god. Dionysos could be shown either as an elderly bearded man, the perfect drinking companion, or as a beautiful youth.