Provenance
- 1974
Thomas Virzi, Italian, 1881 - 1974 (Munich, Germany)
1974 -
by 1994 - 1996
Barbara Fleischman and Lawrence Fleischman, American, 1925 - 1997 (New York, New York), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996.
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Comic Mask
Unknown
Greek (South Italian, Tarantine)
Tarentum (Taras), South Italy (Place Created)
300–200 B.C.
Terracotta with white slip and polychromy (brownish red, pink)
96.AD.247
9 × 8.4 × 9 cm (3 9/16 × 3 5/16 × 3 9/16 in.)
Gift of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman
The mask features a rounded skullcap with two holes for hanging in the upper section of the head. The oval face presents a convex forehead with a cleft at center, high arched eyebrows above half-closed eyes, a long thin nose, puffy cheeks, and a broad mouth with an ambiguous smile. Fleshy lips frame the wide-open mouth; the jaw is prominent and features a full, dimpled chin. The hair is painted red and forms a crown of radial striations around the forehead. These characteristics associate the mask with the New Comedy character Colax, an adulator (or vain flatterer).
Thomas Virzi, Italian, 1881 - 1974 (Munich, Germany)
Barbara Fleischman and Lawrence Fleischman, American, 1925 - 1997 (New York, New York), donated to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996.
"Museum Acquisitions Between July 1, 1996, and June 30, 1998." The Report of the J. Paul Getty Trust (1997-98), p. 67.