Portrait of Antinous as Dionysos

The thick curls, smooth cheeks, and straight brows above heavy eyelids are all typical features of Antinous’s portraits. His right hand resting on his head remains from when the statue was complete, and the youth stood in a relaxed pose.

The small grain size and the flaw along a micaceous vein visible in the right side of the neck are typical of Pentelic marble. The Greeks quarried Pentelic marble as early as the sixth century B.C., and it was widely exported as a material for statues during the Roman Empire.

He wears a wreath of ivy leaves, an attribute borrowed from the god Dionysos. After it was carved, the wreath was covered in a layer of gold leaf. The purple color of several of the leaves on the back of the head is the result of the deterioration of the ancient gilding.

The hair, facial features, and skin were probably painted, but all that remains of their ancient coloration are scattered microscopic particles of a pigment known as “Egyptian blue.”