Statue of Bacchus?

Statue of a young naked male, identified as the god Dionysus. Youthful representations of the god were very popular from the late classical period and there are many surviving statues. The Ince statue is different in that the Bacchus has his left hip outward, he is thus supported on his left leg with a tree trunk which is ornamented with grapes and spiralling vines. It cannot be identified as a Bacchus with absolute certainty because he is missing any attributes. The long hair could be easily attributed to Apollo. The restoration kept the head turning to its side and giving the statue an aloofness. There is a broken patch on the left hip and this may indicate that the strut was originally on the left. The torso is ancient and was joined with the modern addition of the lower legs, ams, strust and base The restorations at the knees, elbows and hips would require significant technical skills in joining such a big modern piece with the ancient torso and having to rethink scale and planes. Blundell was aware of the restoration and mentioned in a letter to Townley that he bought the statue in pieces. An illustration of the same statue in the Vetera Monumenta Matthaeiorum as a complete statue may be a fiction or may have been fabricated to increase the appeal to potential collectors. Formerly Mattei collection, from Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli. Purchased from the Villa Mattei Collection by Henry Blundell on his first trip to Italy in 1777.