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S.V. Obukhov (Moscow) – Replicas of Theatrical Masks and Statuettes of Actors from the V.S. Golenishchev Egyptian Collection in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

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Abstract

The article publishes replicas of theatrical masks and figurines of actors from the Egyptian collection of V.S. Golenishchev (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts). The terracotta theatrical comic mask (or its replica for decorating a thymiaterion) and figurines of actors refl ect the spread of interest in the ancient theater and Greek New Comedy among the population of Hellenistic Egypt. Decorations of wooden sarcophagi in the form of small comic and tragic masks demonstrate the involvement of the population of Hellenistic and Roman Egypt in the chthonic cult of Dionysus, revered as the protector of the souls of the deceased in the other world. The use of theatrical attributes, in particular comic masks, with pictorial motifs of the funeral ritual is explained by the belief of the ancients in the magical power of laughter, which, according to their beliefs, was able to neutralize the forces of evil.

Keywords

Ancient Egypt, Hellenism, Roman period, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, V.S. Golenishchev collection, theatrical masks, terracotta figurines of actors, characters from comedies and kōmos.

Sergey V. Obukhov

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

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