
Diónysos through the eyes of sculptors, painters, and craftsmen across the ages
Dionysus and Ariadne Sarcophagus — c. 230–240 CE. The wine god discovers Ariadne on Naxos; vines and revelers frame their union.
Dionysus in His Ship — Black-figure kylix by Exekias, c. 530 BCE. Pirates who seized the god are transformed into dolphins as vines overtake the mast.
Feast of Dionysus — Red-figure lebes by the Dinos Painter, c. 420 BCE. Maenads and silens whirl around the god in ecstatic communion.
Resting Satyr — Roman copy after Praxiteles. The woodland companion of Dionysus leans on a tree trunk, embodying the god's untamed retinue.
Theatre of Dionysus — Athens. Where tragedy and comedy were born from the god's sacred rituals.
Bacchus — Caravaggio, c. 1596. The god of wine as a young man, offering the viewer a glass of his own divinity.