Ещё раз о театральных масках в гипсовом декоре боспорских деревянных саркофагов I–II веков
Once again on Theatrical Masks in Plaster Décor of the Bosporan Wooden Sarcophagi of the 1st –2nd centuries AD

Summary/Abstract: The State Hermitage Museum holds a fascinating collection of small relief items made of whitepainted plaster (gypsum or gesso) that once were used for decorating wooden sarcophagi from ancient Bosporan Kingdom. They date back to mid-1st – mid-2nd centuries AD, and originate from the Greek necropoli excavated in the necropoli of Pantikapaion and Nymphaion. In the Hermitage collection of such appliqué numerous are theatric masks different in peculiarities of shape and painted details. In the author’s opinion, certain decorative characteristics may correlate with their significance as it could be possibly referred to by the ancients themselves. Making masks with either painted or carved eyes and mouths by all means depends upon various devices and methods of production including different moulds. Still, one of the possible interpretations of the pictorial varieties lies in probable intention to reinforce the apotropaic strength of a piece (open mouth), on the one hand, while on the other (closed mouth) — to endow it with the special sense normally related to the figures of Hermes Psychopompos or Harpocrates, the god of Silence. The idea of pictorial alternative to the renowned and wide-spread gesture of silence in the moment of anticipation to the deity — signum harpocraticum — requires more arguments deployed. Nevertheless, in the most preliminary form the author expresses this assumption, appealing to the images of the so-called “temple boy” and “winged Pedagogue” his right hand put up in call for silence, those found among the same sets of plaster and terracotta reliefs, whose meaning is close to the general idea of sacred silence. The article is illustrated with several photos of the appliqué’s samples from the Hermitage collection.

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