Theater mask applique; Rome, 2nd century A.D.

Apply in the form of a theater mask; Rome, 2nd century AD.
Bronze.
It has a slight lack in the forehead.
Provenance: Private Collection of Madrid.
Measurements: 7 x 6,5 cm; 1,5 x 5 x 4 cm (base).
Small theater mask made of bronze, probably used as a decorative applique on a piece of furniture or architectural element. The ethnologists place the birth of the mask in the moment in which the self-consciousness -self-awareness- takes place. Its use dates back to the most distant antiquity, being found among the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The Greeks used them in the Dionysian festivities; the Romans during the lupercal and saturnal feasts and also in the scenic representations.
These types of pieces were very common in the Roman Empire, but also in other cultures that, directly or indirectly, had contact with them. Theatrical masks were frequent in the arts of the time, and could have some religious meaning (linked to some divinity or sacrifice, votive function, etc.) or simply be a decorative motif.