Grotesques, Caricatures and the Clever Mice at Pistiros Cover Image

Grotesques, Caricatures and the Clever Mice at Pistiros
Grotesques, Caricatures and the Clever Mice at Pistiros

Author(s): Jan Bouzek, Iva Ondřejová
Subject(s): History
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Nakladatelství Karolinum
Keywords: seal imprints; pottery; Scythians; comic actors; Hermaphrodite; Kronos; Rhea; 5th and 4th century BC Greek art

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses a selection of five particular pieces from the 27 sealings found at Pistiros in Bulgaria in 2012, most of them with two imprints, apparently attached to a document with a contract or a deal. Subjects represented on the seals discussed here show grotesques, caricatures and mice acting as humans. They reflect a specific anecdotic side of Greek art in its northern fringes expressed in grotesque, at the time of Philip II and Alexander the Great. Attached is a late 4th century BC Attic pelike from Pistiros with similar caricature of Rhea and Kronos, from the ca. 310 BC destruction.

  • Issue Year: 2017
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 187-200
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: English
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