Lot Essay
For a mosaic from Hadrian's Villa, now in the Vatican Museums, also depicting masks on a bench, see fig. 808 in Bieber, The History of The Greek and Roman Theater.
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PROPERTY FROM A EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
A ROMAN MARBLE AND GLASS MOSAIC PANEL
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
Details
A ROMAN MARBLE AND GLASS MOSAIC PANEL
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
Composed of small multicolored tesserae, preserving two overlapping masks of old men of New Comedy, one in profile to the left, with a bald pate, a knitted brow, pug nose and long beard, one nearly frontal, with long wavy hair swept up from the forehead, also with a knitted brow and a pug nose, with an open megaphone-like mouth and a long wavy beard, both masks placed upon a tunic draped over the edge of a bench
13¼ in. (33.6 cm.) wide
CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D.
Composed of small multicolored tesserae, preserving two overlapping masks of old men of New Comedy, one in profile to the left, with a bald pate, a knitted brow, pug nose and long beard, one nearly frontal, with long wavy hair swept up from the forehead, also with a knitted brow and a pug nose, with an open megaphone-like mouth and a long wavy beard, both masks placed upon a tunic draped over the edge of a bench
13¼ in. (33.6 cm.) wide
Provenance
English Private Collection, 19th Century.
Dr. Athos Moretti, Lugano, Switzerland.
Dr. Athos Moretti, Lugano, Switzerland.