Getty Museum

Scarab with Satyr Carrying an Amphora

Date

325–275 B.C.

Medium

Banded black and white agate

Culture

Etruscan

Department

Jewelry

Institution

Getty Museum

On a gemstone with a hatched border, a satyr walks to the right, with his left leg forward. He bends over to peer into the mouth of a wine amphora, which he holds in both hands. The gem is carved in the "a globolo" style, with simplified fluid contours that articulate the figure's powerful anatomy. The scarab on the obverse is carefully cut. The legs are in relief and the thorax, elytra, and winglets are bordered by hatched lines; the head is hatched. The plinth is decorated with bands of diagonally hatched lines. Gems depicting satyrs and wine vessels, or other motifs illustrating the companions of the wine god Dionysos (Fufluns) are as popular in Etruscan glyptic as they are in Greek art generally.

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