Ancient Roman Terracotta Theatrical mask representing the young hero or excellent young man. TL Tested. 1st-3rd century AD.

Theatrical mask representing the young hero or excellent young man.

- Thermoluminescence Test -

Ancient Roman, 1st-3rd century AD.

Terracotta.

19 cm height and 19 cm length.

CONDITION: Good condition, it only has two restored vertical break lines.

PROVENANCE: Private collection, Paris, France. Acquired before 1970.

DESCRIPTION:

Small Roman theatrical mask made of terracotta, depicting the face of a young man with ideal features and a friendly expression. It can be linked to the character of the young hero, or excellent young man, a recurring figure in Hellenistic and Roman Greek theatre. Known as Panchrestos in Greek, he was a comic character whose mask would have been well known to the audience, as he was a typical character in many comedies. The character characterised by this mask was the ideal of the young man of the social elite, who tended to be athletic, kind-hearted, intelligent and daring. This character had such a personality that he received more sympathy than ridicule from the audience, as he tried to correct the misdeeds of the other characters. The face is rounded, with large almond-shaped eyes with pierced irises and raised eyelids. The eyebrows form an elegant open arch and join a short, well-modelled nose, which is very naturalistic. The mouth, with full, soft-looking lips, is open, showing the character's tongue, as if he were speaking or singing. Although the way the eyes are represented follows symbolic and expressive conventions, the modelling of the face reflects a clear naturalistic intention, which translates into a special realism in the lower part of the face, especially in the movement of the muscles around the mouth. Also noteworthy is the meticulous workmanship of the hair, arranged in fine curls that are relatively neatly arranged around the face, leaving the small ears visible. On the forehead, concealing the roots of the curls, there is a short, striated band, representing some kind of hair ornament. The Louvre Museum has two masks that are very similar in appearance, one of which is identified as Bacchus due to the plant crown (fig. 1) and the other representing a female character (fig. 2). Both their size and design indicate that they are ornamental masks and not functional. The masks used by actors always had to have a wide-open mouth and an interior design similar to that of the sound boxes of musical instruments, in order to project the actor's voice and allow the audience to clearly understand their words. This type of ornamental terracotta theatre mask is not uncommon in the decoration of Roman villas (fig. 3), and although they were elements closely associated with the garden, they can also appear in other areas of the house and even as part of the architecture, as in the case of a corbel with a tragic mask preserved in Madrid (fig. 4).

Theatre was an art form closely linked to philosophy and politics, key to the development of Greek and Roman thought. Through it, the god Dionysus/Bacchus, deity of wine, transformation and eternal life, was honoured. A Greek god of Eastern origin, Dionysus embodied sensuality and the senses, the alteration of the senses and elevation, achieved through the catharsis of theatrical performance or through the ecstasy caused by drunkenness. In both Greece and Rome, theatre actors wore masks in their performances. Made of stuccoed linen or terracotta and painted in bright colours, they followed conventional designs that allowed the character being portrayed to be clearly identified, thanks to a very specific iconography that differed for characters in tragedy and comedy. The mask was not simply a functional object, but became the means through which the actor channelled emotions, expressed the characters and conveyed the stories to the audience.

Representing universal expressions of pain, anger, joy or mockery, masks provided the key to understanding the complexities of the human experience expressed by theatre (fig. 5). Apart from masks used in theatrical performances, there are many examples of masks made for decorating furniture, objects or architecture, both Greek and, above all, Roman. Their production increased from the end of the 4th century BC, in parallel with the rise in popularity of theatre, and in Roman times they even appeared on personal adornments. Particularly noteworthy are the marble reliefs depicting theatrical masks, which can appear with Dionysian symbolism in Roman garden decorations or even in funerary contexts. Ornamental masks were mainly placed outside theatres in monumental form, but they have also appeared in other contexts that are more difficult to interpret today. Miniature masks have been found in grave goods, both for adults and children, perhaps used as toys in the latter case. However, these simple associations are not very convincing today. Rather, as researchers have suggested, they were related to the positive values associated with the Dionysian world in general and, therefore, also to theatre: ideas of a happy, pleasant, beautiful and joyful existence. Thus, theatrical masks found their way into the gardens of Roman houses and villas as decorative elements in celebration of life, and mosaics and murals incorporated them as part of the representation of the ideal garden. Literary and pictorial traditions also bear witness to the votive use of masks by actors as the symbol par excellence of their professional activity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

- BIEBER, M. The History of the Greek and Roman Theater. Princeton University Press. 1961.
- FUCHS, M. Untersuchungen zur Ausstattung römischer Theater in Italien und den Westprovinzen des Imperium Romanum. P. von Zabern. 1987.
- ROSE, H. Die römischen Terrakottamasken in den Nordwestprovinzen. Reichert. 2006.
- SCHWARZMAIER, A. Die Masken aus der Nekropole von Lipari, Palilia 21. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. 2011.
- VV.AA. The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy. Oxford University Press. 2014.

PARALLELS:

Fig. 1 Mask of Bacchus. Thrace, Roman Empire, 1st–4th century AD. Terracotta. Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. AO 1956.

Fig. 2 Woman's mask. Roman Empire, 1st century BC–1st century AD. Terracotta. Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. Cp 4779.

Fig. 3 Ornamental tragic mask. Roman Empire, 1st-3rd century AD. Terracotta. Metropolitan Museum, New York, inv. 06.1103.

Fig. 4 Antefix with tragic mask. Roman Empire, first half of the 1st century AD. Terracotta. National Archaeological Museum, Madrid, inv. 16610 BIS.

Fig. 5 Pinax with theatre masks from the New Comedy. Marble. Pompeii, Roman Empire, 1st century AD. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples. Inv. 6619.







Notes:

- The piece includes authenticity certificate.
- The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested, can take between 1-2 weeks maximum.
- The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.