Pannychis Ritual - I
The front side is decorated with a relief depiction of an orgiastic nocturnal ritual (Pannychis) linked to mystery cults of a highly erotic nature. During these nocturnal feasts Dionysus and his cortege abandoned themselves to unbridled revelry, set in a rural sanctuary of Dionysus with herms of Pan.
Dionysus, in a state of drunkenness, is depicted in the center of the scene together with thirteen characters from his procession, Satyrs, Satyresses and Maenads, Fauns in voluptuous poses. The God, bearded and with a crown of ivy and vine leaves on his head, wears a long robe tight at the hips, and a necklace hangs from his neck; he holds a kantharos in one hand and a crown in the other. The god advances with an uncertain step supported by two young Fauns, one completely naked, the other wrapped in a nebris.
A "canephora" with a thyrsus and a basket on her head, a Maenad playing cymbals in front of a boy dressed in a short tunic with a shepherd's crook, and a Faun who illuminates the scene by raising a burning torch complete the group of characters sculpted in the center of the scene.
To the left of the central group there is a small altar and a temple-shaped building. A "taeda", a resinous torch used for wedding ceremonies and sacred rites, is placed near the altar; on its top surface a pine cone is placed. The acroterion placed on the top of the temple in correspondence with the right corner of the tympanum, depicts a Cupid fighting against a Satyr.
A Maenade (Arianne ?) dressed in a thin tunic lies near the temple. Her tympanum on the ground, and she appears exhausted and immersed in a deep sleep. A curtain stretched between two trees, a pine and a plane tree, separates the sleeping woman from the figure of a Satyresse carved near a ithyphallic herm of a bearded Pan. Turning her back to the herm, with her right hand she grasps one of Pan's horns , and with her left squeezes his phallus and start a coitus from behind raising her right leg on a pedestal decorated with festoons.
To the right of the main group a ithyphallic Satyr penetrates from behind a Satyresse, kneeling on a stone in front of a herm of young Pan. With her mouth open, she rests her left hand on the herm, and with the other hand touches the ground where a syrinx and a crook are placed.
A curtain between two trees, similar to the previous one, closes the scene illuminated by a torch held by young Satyr.
Source: G. Fiorelli, “Catalogo del Museo Nazionale di Napoli – Raccolta Pornografica”
Marble sarcophagus
Height 49 cm.; Length 235 cm.
Mid 2nd century AD - Antonine period
Farnese Collection, pesently displayed in the Secret Cabinet room
Naples, National Archaeological Museum – Inv. no. 27710.
Pannychis Ritual - I
The front side is decorated with a relief depiction of an orgiastic nocturnal ritual (Pannychis) linked to mystery cults of a highly erotic nature. During these nocturnal feasts Dionysus and his cortege abandoned themselves to unbridled revelry, set in a rural sanctuary of Dionysus with herms of Pan.
Dionysus, in a state of drunkenness, is depicted in the center of the scene together with thirteen characters from his procession, Satyrs, Satyresses and Maenads, Fauns in voluptuous poses. The God, bearded and with a crown of ivy and vine leaves on his head, wears a long robe tight at the hips, and a necklace hangs from his neck; he holds a kantharos in one hand and a crown in the other. The god advances with an uncertain step supported by two young Fauns, one completely naked, the other wrapped in a nebris.
A "canephora" with a thyrsus and a basket on her head, a Maenad playing cymbals in front of a boy dressed in a short tunic with a shepherd's crook, and a Faun who illuminates the scene by raising a burning torch complete the group of characters sculpted in the center of the scene.
To the left of the central group there is a small altar and a temple-shaped building. A "taeda", a resinous torch used for wedding ceremonies and sacred rites, is placed near the altar; on its top surface a pine cone is placed. The acroterion placed on the top of the temple in correspondence with the right corner of the tympanum, depicts a Cupid fighting against a Satyr.
A Maenade (Arianne ?) dressed in a thin tunic lies near the temple. Her tympanum on the ground, and she appears exhausted and immersed in a deep sleep. A curtain stretched between two trees, a pine and a plane tree, separates the sleeping woman from the figure of a Satyresse carved near a ithyphallic herm of a bearded Pan. Turning her back to the herm, with her right hand she grasps one of Pan's horns , and with her left squeezes his phallus and start a coitus from behind raising her right leg on a pedestal decorated with festoons.
To the right of the main group a ithyphallic Satyr penetrates from behind a Satyresse, kneeling on a stone in front of a herm of young Pan. With her mouth open, she rests her left hand on the herm, and with the other hand touches the ground where a syrinx and a crook are placed.
A curtain between two trees, similar to the previous one, closes the scene illuminated by a torch held by young Satyr.
Source: G. Fiorelli, “Catalogo del Museo Nazionale di Napoli – Raccolta Pornografica”
Marble sarcophagus
Height 49 cm.; Length 235 cm.
Mid 2nd century AD - Antonine period
Farnese Collection, pesently displayed in the Secret Cabinet room
Naples, National Archaeological Museum – Inv. no. 27710.