A ROMAN MARBLE RELIEF FRAGMENT WITH TWO SATYRS, 1ST CENTURY A.D. | A Roman Marble Relief Fragment with Two Satyrs

finely carved in shallow relief with a young satyr seeking protection from an older satyr standing and holding a thyrsos, the young satyr with one knee on a platform and gesturing with his head turned back towards an unidentified threat, a cluster of pine cones(?) dangling above; no restorations.

said to have been found in the Baths of Titus in Rome (based on  the inscription “Terme di Tito” inked on the back in a 19th-century hand)
acquired by the present owner from an antique shop in Ireland in the 1980s

Fragmentary, abraded, and chipped as shown. Back inscribed in 19th century hand "Terme di Tito."
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While there is apparently no parallel for the scared satyr in Roman art, the motif is already attested in Greek vase painting of the 5th century B.C. (see, for example, an Attic skyphos with Satyrs scared of Iris: LIMC, vol. 5, p. 752, no. 114, pl. 495). Satyrs in shock also appear on several 4th-Century B.C. South-Italian vases, afraid of the head of Medusa held up by Perseus (see R. Krumeich, in id. et al., eds., Das griechische Satyrspiel, 1999, p. 64, note 109).