Unknown (Italian 19C) Head of Dionysus {1892} NGV [SC]

Unknown (Italian, 19^th century)
Head of Dionysus (replica)
Bronze, 69 x 47.5 x 33 cm
Purchased 1892
National Gallery of Victoria (acc.no. 916-D1M)

Like the other bronzes acquired for Melbourne in 1892 – see Unknown (Italian 19C) “Berenice” {1892} NGV [SC], etc. –  this work is described in the 1894 and 1905 NGV catalogues as a reproduction of an original in Naples. It is inscribed with the date 1892 and the name of the Neapolitan maker, Sabatino (De Angelis and sons).

The original head is from Herculaneum (Naples Inv.5618).

Refs.

AR 1892, p.23; NGV 1894, p.129 (VI.Rotunda, no.3); NGV 1905, p.49 (II.Stawell Gallery, no.51): as purchased for £14

For the original bronze in Naples, see http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=4862 (dated c.49-25 BCE; noted as found in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, 18 April 1759)