Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE B: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Statue of an Actor
Image View:
Detail, head, clad in a tragic mask of the youth
Creator:
unknown (Roman (ancient) sculptor)
Location:
repository: Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Naples, Campania, Italy)
Location Note:
1380 Sherbrooke Street West (exhibition location)
GPS:
45.4987-73.5801
Date:
before 79 CE (creation)
Cultural Context:
Roman (ancient)
Style Period:
Imperial (Roman)
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
terracotta
Technique:
modeling (forming)
Relation Work:
pendantOf Statue of an Actor Impersonating a Woman
Subjects:
genre; human figure; Performing arts; Pompeii (Extinct city); masks; theater; theatre; plays; actors
Description:
Part of the 2015 "Pompeii" exhibit which featured over 220 archaeological artifacts, most from the Naples National Archaeological Museum. The exhibit was designed to immerse viewers in settings of every day life in Pompeii, complete with state-of-the-art visual effects and soundscapes. One of two terracotta statues which depict a pair of actors dressed as stock characters from Roman tragedy; the youth and the female courtesan. Both actors are male and wearing exaggerated theatrical masks that are fastened on with straps. The figures, originally painted in bright colors, were discovered together in 1672, at the entrance to a private garden near Pompeii’s theaters. (Source: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; http://www.mmfa.qc.c a/)
Collection:
Adjunct Module B: Italian Art
Identifier:
7A3-R-PEX-SA-A03
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Statue of an Actor