The depiction of hauntingly gazing eyes on symposion dishes has long been interpreted as an ominous symbol. However, this gaze that gripped the revelers does not seem to have been meant as such and would also run counter to the character of convivial drinking. The eyes, which usually flank the rest of the pictorial representation, are to be understood as a stylised mask of Dionysus, which the drinker puts on when he brings the bowl to his mouth and tilts it. The drinker is given a new face, as it were, which welcomes him into the circle of Dionysus' companions. (AVS)
Former Erhart Kästner Collection, Wolfenbüttel
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