Abstract

This paper examines the imagery of the Greco-Roman god Dionysus and his iconography throughout the ancient world and into the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The nature of his depictions focuses around his ability to cause chaos and break down barriers between genders, sexes, and social classes, as well as influences those around him to behave erratically and without restrictions. Accordingly, Dionysus became affiliated with transgressing boundaries along with wine, madness, and his mystery cult in the ancient world. His ability to manipulate others both physically and psychologically is represented in Euripides’ play the Bacchae, which inspired violent imagery that indicated his threat to social boundaries through feminine power and autonomy. Dionysus/Bacchus in Rome was connected to chthonic powers of resurrection, which conflated his iconography with that of the Christ figure. The Humanist movement rose and challenged religious beliefs, inspiring various Renaissance artists to utilize Dionysian imagery to represent chaos and cultural transgression. Through the ancient world into the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Dionysus appears in three distinct representations in art--variations of bearded adult, idealized youth, and corpulent figure. These three major manifestations of Dionysus represented a continual symbol of chaos and freedom that confronted social constructions of the current time, his imagery synonymous with change and transgression.

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