LOT 0170

Large Roman Marble Relief of a Theatre Mask

2ND CENTURY A.D.

20 in. (30 kg, 51 cm).

Carved fragment with a female tragedy theatre mask modelled in the half-round, features strongly delineated, eyes detailed with small cylindrical pupils; the hair sculpted on the upper part with rich locks fastened by a taenia, divided into regular rows falling stiffly on the forehead and down along the sides, bound by laces, open mouth in an expression of sorrow.

Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s.
Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent.
Private collection, since the late 1990s.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12362-226705.

For a similar example s. Mendel, G., Catalogue des sculptures grecques, romaines et byzantines, Constantinople, 1914, nos. 328 (1207).

The mask is known to have been used in tragic theatre since the time of Aeschylus (first half of 5th century B.C.) and considered to be one of the iconic conventions of classical Greek theatre. Masks were also made for male members of the chorus, who play a part in the action and provide a commentary on the events in which they were caught up. The theme of decorative tragic masks as architectural elements passed from the Greek to the Roman culture and is largely visible in all the corners of the Roman Empire. However, these colossal heads are typical of the great architecture of temples and theatres of Roman Asia Minor, and the style and workmanship of this wonderful fragment of frame can be traced back to Hadrian’s era. The face suggests an architectural use, perhaps as a corbel or a lintel.