have assisted in a change of weight in the sculpture. On the other hand, the hand and the penis have a different story. It is possible the damage could have been due to natural causses; however, loss of the two body parts might also have been for the sake of an authentic archaeological appearance. The hand holding the goblet was broken off and the penis chiseled away before Maarten van Heemskerck saw the sculpture in the 1530s. Only the goblet was restored, in the early 1550s. The mutilation may have been to give the sculpture an illusion of greater antiquity, placed as it initially was among an antique torso and fragmentary Roman reliefs in Jacopo Galli's Roman garden. Such a concession to "classical" sensibilities did not, however, convince Percy Bysshe Shelley of the work's fidelity to "the spirit and meaning of Bacchus". He wrote that "It looks drunken, brutal, and narrow-minded, and has an expression of dissoluteness the most revolting". The art historian Johannes Wilde summarized responses to the sculpture thus: "in brief... it is not the image of a god". Symbolism Michelangelo included iconography that identifies the figure as Bacchus in this sculpture. Bacchus, also known as Dionysus, was the subject of the ancient Cult of Dionysus. The symbols that can be seen within the cult and Bacchus are wine, ivy, and tigers/leopards, he is also constantly seen with satyrs. All these symbols can be spotted in the Michelangelo Bacchus sculpture. Ivy/grape leaves Bacchus wears a wreath of ivy leaves, as that plant was sacred to the god. (They are not, as is often supposed, vine leaves.) Bacchus wears these vines and grape leaves on his head because he is the inventor of wine. Goblet He eyes the goblet of wine that he holds in his right hand. The viewer can assume that this goblet contains wine and that Bacchus has fallen under the spell of his own creation. In a way, the goblet that is being held has the illusion that it is tilted in a drunken manner. This shows that Bacchus is intoxicated and gives the action of him either gently spilling his liquid creation upon humanity or more realistically upon the viewer who is gazing upon him. Skin In the left hand of Bacchus, is a skin surrounded by grape leaves. The skin that is being held is of a Tiger though there are thoughts that