Statuette of a Striding Comic Actor

1st century A.D.

Medium

Bronze

Dimensions

7.1 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-239406

An actor wearing a bearded mask strides forward, clasping his garment with one hand and gesturing with the other. He has lost the grotesque padding of earlier actors, and wears a normal cloak over close-fitting undergarments. Roman comedy drew strongly on the traditions of Greek New Comedy. It focused on the humorous aspects of normal domestic life, and almost always included a love story in which the two lovers eventually marry after overcoming various obstacles. These plays tend to have a recurring cast of stock characters: the cunning slave, the boastful soldier, the maiden, the scheming tart, the rustic youth, the admirable young man, and this one, the irate father.Several other versions of this actor statuette survive, providing information on its date and how it was used. One of stands on a small base, while another decorates a lamp. These objects show that small bronze figures of actors were used as general household knick-knacks, reminders of pleasant entertainment. The form of the base and the lamp also suggest a date in the first century A.D.