SATYR AND MAENAD, 62-79 CE. MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO NAZIONALE DI NAPOLI This centrepiece of a wall (MANN inv. 8598) in the tablinum of the Prædia of Julia Felix shows two floating figures against a yellow background, though there are hints that an Eros was once holding two wreaths above the heads of the figures. The female figure is a Maenad, a Dionysiac devotee, and her natural male counterpart in art is, as here, the male figure of a satyr. He is carrying her off, but she has a devil-may-care manner in her expression, her bare torso, and her right arm flung up into the air as if to say, "Go ahead. Take me to the bed." But is that the satyr's intention? He seems more likely to take her to the kitchen, with his glass bucket on his shoulder and what I would call an unnatural, even hungry interest in her forearm.
#FrescoFriday at the #Praedia of #JuliaFelix in #Pompeii (though the #fresco is now in #Naples) gives us a floating scene of a #satyr holding a bucket of #grapes on one shoulder and carrying off a #maenad with his other arm. He seems cannibalistically interested in her forearm. #AncientBluesky 🏺
