Limestone figure wearing a mask - image 1

Archaic II

Limestone figure wearing a mask

The figure wears a mask in the form of a bull's head and neck; the lower edge rests on the shoulders and chest. He seems to be stabilizing its lower end. One is reminded of Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's comic interpretation of an age-old tradition rooted in serious, ritual performances. WebPub GR 2012 Cesnola: 8 7/16 in., 1.5 lb. (21.4 cm)

Date

575 - 550 BC

Accession No.

74.51.2515

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

  • Sanctuary of Golgoi-Ayios Photios

References

  • Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. XXIV.57, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1029, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Sophocleous, Sophocles. 1985. ""Atlas des représentations chypro-archaiques des divinités." Master's Diss.." Master's Diss. no. 2, p. 18, pl. III.8. Paul Aströms Förlag.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 194, pp. 130-1, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 247, p. 196, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.