Tinglado 4

Theatre Mask

Theater mask made of terracotta that represents a grotesque face. Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona.

Theater mask made of terracotta that represents a grotesque face. Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona.

Atellan farces were another genre that were greatly enjoyed by the populace. Considered a lesser but authentically Roman genre, it consists of satirical improvisations, with all sorts of puns and jokes, both in prose and in verse, which depended on the ingenuity and boldness of the actors. This terracotta theatre mask, which depicts a grotesque face with an oversized nose and broad smile, reminds us of the masks typical of the plays of this genre.

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