Italian, ca. 1890 Figural Lamp of Silenus Bronze, electrified 27 × 10 × 10 in.
This 19th-century Grand Tour bronze depicts Silenus, Greek god of wine and tutor to Dionysus, wrestling a serpent—an ancient symbol of wisdom and immortality. The form is modeled after a sculpture excavated at Pompeii in 1864. Such works were popular among Grand Tour travelers, who brought home bronze reproductions of classical antiquities as cultural souvenirs and symbols of refined education.
