Comedy & Tragedy
  90mm (3.5") high x 95mm (3.75") wide
 

The traditional symbol of two hanging masks is a recurrent motif on the remains of buildings or mosaics in or near the theatres of Ancient Rome, and a symbol popularised at the time of the Comedia del'Arte in Venice. The Theatrical Mask has its origins in classical times - it was an effective way to convey a character's persona - comic, tragic, bellicose, melancholic, etc. - over the vast distances of an amphitheatre, for whilst the superb acoustics of early theatre design meant the proverbial pin could be heard drop at a hundred paces it was still a long time before the invention of spectacles and opera glasses and such visual clues as to what was going on on the distant stage was certainly to be welcomed.

The two masks here are taken from classical carvings - 'Comedy' is preserved in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens and 'Tragedy' is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

 

These castings are designed, sculpted and manufactured in England, using resin-bonded marble, bronze and Cotswold stone. Modern moulding techniques faithfully reproduce the intricate and painstaking work of the sculptor whilst giving the appearance of real carved stone or sculpted terracotta. The resin sculptures are weatherproof, the plaques having a hole drilled in the back for easy hanging