Getty Museum

Cameo with Four Theater Masks set into a Mount

Date

gem 1st century; mount mid-19th century or later

Medium

Gem: sardonyx; mount: gold

Culture

Roman

Department

Jewelry

Institution

Getty Museum

Carved on this cameo are two pairs of theatrical masks separated by a Greek inscription that reads: "Euripides," the name of the Athenian playwright. One pair of masks depicts the faces of two satyrs, male companions of Dionysos; they are old satyrs, bald-headed and snub-nosed, with their mouths open as if speaking. The other two masks are human faces. One is a narrow-faced, bearded man; the other is a broad-featured, bald, older man with a beard and a moustache, who wears a wreath. Dramatic performances in ancient Greece and Rome divide into two basic categories: tragedy and comedy, plus the slapstick satyr-play. The satyr masks on this gem are emblematic of comedies and satyr-plays, and the masks of the men pertain to tragedies. Euripides was a writer of tragic drama; he lived in the fifth century B.C., and his works were performed throughout classical antiquity. Actors customarily wore masks, which apparently identified the types of characters portrayed in a play rather than specific roles. The gold mount with a chain into which this cameo is set is modern.

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