ANTIQUE ENTERTAINMENT

In February, I visited the Metropolitan in New York and saw this magnificent Faience masks, discovered in Medinet-el-Fayum at Antinoopolis, Middle Egypt. It dates from the 2nd century AD. With reference to the The Metropolitan, the masks are too small and brittle to have served as actual theater masks. They refer to the god Dionysus, patron of the theater and god of rebirth: in Egypt equated with Osiris. Terracotta masks are found in burials and sanctuaries in Greece, in sanctuaries and as garden decorations in Italy. In Egypt they are known only from burials, as offerings to Osiris, Dionysus. More of my pictures of the Metropolitan can be seen  here .

Yesterday, I visited the splendid exhibition 'Mythos Olympia: Kult und Spiele' in Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin. The exhibition gave a thorough inside in the Olympic games, which were held in de Greek region of Elis, Eleia ( Ἦλις) or modern Ilida,  in southern Greece on the Peloponneso peninsula, bounded on the north by Achaea, east by Arcadia, south by Messenia, and west by the Ionian Sea. The first Olympic festival was organized in Elean land, by the authorities of Elis in the 8th century BC, with tradition dating the first games at 776 BC. The Hellanodikai, the judges of the Games, were of Elean origin. Elis held authority over the site of Olympia and the Olympic games. The spirit of the games had influenced the formation of the market: apart from the bouleuterion, which was housed in one of the gymnasia, most of the other buildings were related to the games, including two gymnasia, a palaestrum, and the House of the Hellanodikai.   T...

The second week of July, I visited the Archeological Museum in Athens. An incredible treat for anyone who likes Greek and Roman art. Among its many treasures, I saw these masks, made of pentalic marble on display. This mask was found at the west side of the Stoa of Attalos in Athens. It depicts the type of a young woman or courtesan of the New Comedy. She has luxuriant hair and wears large earrings. It is identified as a Late Hellenistic copy of a type of the 4th century BC. This mask of 'the impudent slave' was found at the same location as the courtesan above, and is also a late Hellenistic copy of an original of the 4th century BC. His features, flat nose, huge open mouth and deeply wrinkled forehead render this type. Found in Dionysos at Attica, this mask is worked in the round type of a female figure of tragedy. It is dated 3rd century BC. This bearded old man with his very high forehead and open mouth is probably the 'first old man', of the New Com...