Terracotta statuette of a teacher and a pupil

late 4th–early 3rd century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 164
The old man seated on a stool writes on a tablet that rests on his lap and looks toward the child to see if he is attentive. The group may simply represent a schoolmaster with a pupil, but the satyr-like appearance of the teacher may also indicate that this is a representation of Silenos, father of the satyrs, instructing the child Dionysos.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Terracotta statuette of a teacher and a pupil
  • Period: Early Hellenistic
  • Date: late 4th–early 3rd century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Asia Minor
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: H. 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm)
  • Classification: Terracottas
  • Credit Line: Samuel P. Avery Memorial Fund, 1923
  • Object Number: 23.259
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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