You have certainly hit on one of the most enigmatic of all classical sculptures, Dionysia. It has puzzled me for many years. The very pose is a puzzlement. Why is the right arm raised in that graceful, but puzzling gesture? What does that signify? The relaxed fingers with the pinky extended would prove that he is holding nothing in that hand; it is a gesture. Perhaps it is no more than the exagerated grace of the school of Praxiteles.

The object on the top of his head also has been bothering me for some time. No, I do not know who or what a thorn or a claw might signify; please tell us. I always thought it would make a handy way of attaching a fresh wreath.

I am afraid we shall never know what he held in his left hand. Wouldn't it be nice to find a Roman copy intact?