The statuette was brought to the National Archaeological Museum in 1936 and is said to have come from Chochlia in Eurytania, in Central Greece. According to one theory, it had been removed from a great Aitolian sanctuary, where it had been dedicated. In complete contrast to previous practice, in Late Hellenistic and Roman Imperial times statuettes of this kind and size were set in the courts and gardens of private houses for both cult or/and decorative reasons.
The work has been cast hollow, with the hands cast separately from the torso. It represents one of the earliest examples of this technique, which was to become very popular during the Roman Imperial period.
Bibliography: S. Êarusu, ''Eine Bronzestatuette des Dionysos aus Aitolien'', Wandlungen: Studien zur antiken und neuern Kunst, Ernst Homann-Wedeking gewidmet, (Waldassen-Bayern 1975) pp. 205-216· R. Thomas, Griechische Bronzestatuetten (Darmstadt 1992) pp. 128-129· H.F. Sharpe, From hieron and oikos: The religious and secular use of Hellenistic and Greek Imperial bronze statuettes (Ph. D. Éndiana University, 2006) pp. 165, 247-248.
