DIONYSIAC FIGURE, C. 50 BCE. THE BRITISH MUSEUM. This detail of a fresco bought from a French nobleman in 1873 shows part of a Bacchic dance in a garden, in a fresco that is said to have come from the necropolis of Villa Doria Pamphilj and probably does. This mostly naked man with right arm upraised in celebration is already drunk and in movement, carrying an amphora in the crook of his arm. His lineaments are sketched in with red paint and this is almost more of a drawing than a painting, but it's all expertly done with great economy. He's nude from his navel down, and his long phallus is delineated by a line that ends in a dot at the tip of his foreskin. Remember that for the Romans, you were not offensively naked unless the foreskin was retracted.
It's #PhallusThursday and time to party! I'm wearing my party outfit of a cloak, a wreath crown, and absolutely nothing else; I'm bringing an #amphora and an enormous #Roman sausage! From c. 50 BCE, in a fresco possibly from the #necropolis of #VillaPamphili. #AncientBluesky 🏺
