Gift of Edward Perry Warren, Esq., Honorary Degree 19261908.6
Satyrs were woodland spirits and companions of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry. They differ from Roman fauns only in appearance, being represented more generally as older, more bestial, and with more grotesque features. This example, a small statuette that probably decorated a Roman villa or garden, shows these characteristics well. The satyr is depicted with unkempt and mane-like hair and beard, reclining against a rocky outcrop. He holds a wineskin under his left arm, and his expression may suggest he has indulged amply in its contents. At his left side, leaning against the rock, is his shepherd’s crook, further suggesting that this satyr has been caught in a stupor.
Before 1908, collection of Edward Perry Warren; 1908, gifted to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art by Edward Perry Warren.
A testament to his impact as an influential twentieth-century American antiquities collector, Edward Perry Warren’s (1860–1928, H ’26) name is linked to hundreds of ancient objects housed in institutions across the United States, including more than five hundred works at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art alone.