Statue of Antinous as Dionysos ( aka The Antinous Braschi), Vatican Museum, Sala Rotonda.
This colossal sculpture (3.5 meters) was found in excavations in 1792-1793 in an area presumed to have been the villa of Hadrian at Praeneste. This statue showing Antinous as Dionysus dates from the years immediately following his death. When the cult of Antinous was denounced and the Christian iconoclasts were smashing the images of the pagan gods, the devotees of Antinous gently laid down and covered the statue so that when it was found scarcely any of its extremities were damaged.
