Harvard Art Museums > 1932.56.56: Standing actor Sculpture Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Standing actor , 1932.56.56,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Oct 02, 2023, https://hvrd.art/o/291853. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 1932.56.56 Title Standing actor Classification Sculpture Work Type statuette, sculpture Date 2nd-3rd century CE Period Roman Imperial period Culture Roman Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/291853 Physical Descriptions Medium Terracotta Technique Mold-made Dimensions 15 × 5.5 × 3.9 cm (5 7/8 × 2 3/16 × 1 9/16 in.) Provenance Recorded Ownership History Dr. Harris Kennedy, Milton, MA (by 1932), gift; to the William Hayes Fogg Art Museum, 1932. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Harris Kennedy, Class of 1894 Accession Year 1932 Object Number 1932.56.56 Division Asian and Mediterranean Art Contact am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description Almost complete figurine with some repairs. Signs of burning at bottom. A standing actor, fully dressed. He wears a mask with a wreath, short, curly hair, and fully open mouth. Dionysiac? A long, straight tunic obscures the body, while a heavy mantle draped around the shoulders and back provides a dramatic frame. The right arm is bent at the elbow and brought up to the mouth; left arm, now missing, likely projected forward. He stands on a hight plinth or platform. Modeling is stiff, yet pose, as if speaking, is dynamic nonetheless. Would have been painted originally. Significant traces of white ground extant. Hollow with open bottom; heavy. Mold-made in a bivalve mold, likely plaster. Arms cast separately and later attached. Linear treatment of features, incised detailing, and general frontality, suggest a later Imperial date. Light red-orange clay, micaceous; perhaps western Anatolian. Commentary The actors of Roman antiquity were both vilified and idolized: on the one hand, they were legally disenfranchised; on the other, they won the love of their public with their expressive performances. This terracotta figurine, and others like it, would have reminded its owner of the visual splendor of the theater, its originally painted surface brightly complementing the subject. Its small size and warm material would have further inspired handling. What sort of effects could have holding the miniature version of these ambivalent characters had on past theater afficionados? Related Works 1932.56.55 Slave or actor with yoke Sculpture 1932.56.60 Group of Actors Sculpture Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
