Figure of actor with mask. Magna Grecia, IV - III century B.C.

Figure of actor with mask. Magna Graecia, 4th - 3rd century BC.
Terracotta.
Provenance: Private collection, Paris, France.
Condition: good condition, no restorations.
Measurements: 17,7 cm high.

Terracotta figure from Magna Graecia, dated between the 4th and 3rd century BC. The piece shows a standing female figure, with the body partially covered by a mantle of marked folds and a mask held by the side, an element that links it directly to the Greek theatrical world.

The theater occupied an essential place in Greek culture and, during the Hellenistic period, its characters, actors and masks were frequently incorporated into the repertoire of suritallic terracottas. These small sculptures could have a votive, decorative or funerary function, and reflect the taste for scenes and types linked to the cultural and religious life of the community.

The piece preserves a frontal composition, balanced and of notable presence, with remains of engobe and superficial deposits typical of its antiquity. Due to its theatrical iconography, good state of preservation and absence of restorations, it constitutes an interesting testimony of the choroplastic production of Magna Grecia.