A dancing Maenad is our pick this #FrescoFriday. This stunning figure comes from a fresco from the Casa del Naviglio in Pompeii and is now held in the MAN Napoli.
Maenads were followers of Dionysus (or as the Romans knew him, Bacchus). This maenad appears be dressed in the most delicate and diaphanous robes that follow the movements of her form. She appears here as if floating in the air against a dark background which accentuates the ethereal air. She holds forth a narrow staff which is likely a thyrsus. In her other hand she holds what might be a mirror or dish. Her look is completed with a wreath and she seems to smile from across the many centuries.
#AncientRome #History @AimeeMaroux