Baby Bacchus

    This little bronze statuette was found in Szombathely, Hungary. Szombathely is the city you can see ont he map nowdays, int he Roman times this city was called Savaria, a great and splendid city ont he Amber Road. The late Roman Savaria is totally at the same place as the contemporary city, so the archaeological excavation is not an easy task. New constructions can bring new foundings, so I alsways pay attention to the arcaeological news of this city. By the way, it is a wonnderful little settlement, so if you are interested in Hungary, I suggest you to visit Szombathely.

   So back to our litte Bacchus. The representation of the God as a child is so rare, so every small find represents value. but look at this statuette and admit it: it looks a bit horrifying, not a representation of a happy child. And if you know the fact that you are looking int he eyes of the God Bacchus it causes shivering. Why? First of all the representation of his hairstyle. Lovely curls should be on his head, sweet as a baby. But we see…by the way, something like a Gorgon. and the eyes. Too big and not wide open of interest. His limbs are swelled, like some kind of illness. and the corrodion of the statuette, but I think it doesn’t make the situation much worse. However we look, it’s scary.

  We are in the 2nd-3rd century AC, Rome is far, far away. Pannonia Provincia is the border, Limes, the edge of the Roman world, the Roman culture. On the other side of the border wild tribes are living: Celts, Yazigs ang tons of tribes racing their horses, speaking like a dog (yes,  Barbarian int he Ancient World meant a person who is not able to speak Greek ot Latin, so every language except these two sounded like a dog barking for the ’highly educated’ Romans), so the trends, fashion and taste from Rome arrives to Pannonia slowly. It's not so close to the border, but the impacts are undeniable. This is a mixed culture, many tribes lived here and became Romans – in the meaning of speaking Latin and have some Roman culture like wearing a toga. So the Roman art-trends arrives here not just late, but a bit distorted. Craftsmen worked after a sample book, so they imitated the original motifs. That is what happens when somebody copies a great idea. This is called ’provincial art’, but somehow means that the reproduction is far from the original one.

  But not to say just humping things, this statuette was found in a well. How he got there? I smell magic in the air, but that is my personal opinion. Curse tablet and votive figurines are usually thrown into the well, not Gods. But it may have been fallen to the well accidentally. Nobody knows! Interesting artefact anyway: the baby Bacchus found in a well! Provincial style, okay, not the most beautifully crafted, buti t reveals a lot about provincial thinking and the view of art.