
Dionysiac Frieze, Villa of the Mysteries
Artist unknown
60 BC · Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii
Life-size figures act out an initiation into the cult of Dionysus around three walls, buried by Vesuvius and dug out nearly intact.
★ 8.1

Life-size figures act out an initiation into the cult of Dionysus around three walls, buried by Vesuvius and dug out nearly intact.

Dancers stretch while a spiral staircase cuts the corner and the frame slices figures off. Degas cared about the practice, not the performance.