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Lot Essay
One of the chief forms of entertainment during the Roman period was comedic theater. Older Greek plays, especially the New Comedy of Menander and his contemporaries of the 4th century B.C., continued to be immensely popular, while Roman playwrights drew heavily from this genre. Images of the theater abounded throughout the empire, including on paintings and mosaics, where masked actors are shown in action. Sculptures of actors were also popular, appearing in a variety of materials including stone, bronze and terracotta, including free-standing figures and reliefs, as well as depictions of masks. For a terracotta actor and actress see nos. 301-302 in Ward-Perkins and Claridge, Pompeii, AD 79.
Among the stock figures from New Comedy was the "Old Man," characterized by a beard, protruding eyes with both eyebrows drawn up, and a roll of hair over the forehead. A number of masks survive depicting the Old Man of Comedy, chiefly in marble and terracotta (see figs. 330-337 in Bieber, The History of the Greek and Roman Theater), but complete standing figures of actors wearing the mask of the Old Man are exceedingly rare. Only three other marble figures are known, all wearing similar garments that can be associated with the "Old Man," but since all have later restorations, some details are unclear (see p. 374, nos. 4XS 3a-c in Webster, Green and Seeberg, Monuments Illustrating New Comedy, vol. 2). For an example in the Vatican Museum, see pl. 164 in Lippold, Skulpturen des Vatikanischen Museums, iii.2; and for two in the Villa Albani, Rome, see fig. 583 in Bieber, The History of the Greek and Roman Theater, and pl. 184 in Bol, ed., Forschungen zur Villa Albani, Katalog der antiken Bildwerke IV.
Among the stock figures from New Comedy was the "Old Man," characterized by a beard, protruding eyes with both eyebrows drawn up, and a roll of hair over the forehead. A number of masks survive depicting the Old Man of Comedy, chiefly in marble and terracotta (see figs. 330-337 in Bieber, The History of the Greek and Roman Theater), but complete standing figures of actors wearing the mask of the Old Man are exceedingly rare. Only three other marble figures are known, all wearing similar garments that can be associated with the "Old Man," but since all have later restorations, some details are unclear (see p. 374, nos. 4XS 3a-c in Webster, Green and Seeberg, Monuments Illustrating New Comedy, vol. 2). For an example in the Vatican Museum, see pl. 164 in Lippold, Skulpturen des Vatikanischen Museums, iii.2; and for two in the Villa Albani, Rome, see fig. 583 in Bieber, The History of the Greek and Roman Theater, and pl. 184 in Bol, ed., Forschungen zur Villa Albani, Katalog der antiken Bildwerke IV.