9-i

The Human Figure.

The Mask.
on accotmt of its beauty of form. All these delineations, which fall
within the domain of high art, lie beyond the scope of this work.
We have only to deal with the human figure so far as it has been
received into decoration: we have only to occupy ourselves with
"conventionalised" man. This includes the applications of the human
face, more or less true to nature or with arbitrary accessions; masks
and caricatures; grottesques, those strange combinations of human
with animal or plant elements; and also the applications of the upper
half of the human body as the starting-point of ornament; half-lengths
as commencements of ornaments; those mixtures of human and animal
shapes in which the upper half falls to the share of man, e.
g.:

sphinxes, centaurs, &c.
The Mask. (Plate
61.)
Tlie Mask, strictly so-called, is an artificial, hollow face, intended
to be placed in front of, and to conceal the human countenance so
as to make the wearer unrecognisable, or to characterize him in some
special way. The use of the Mask dates back to the popular Harvest
games of the earliest Greek period. From these games the mask is
believed to have been transferred to the ancient Theatre, in which the
actors all appeared masked. Different classes of Masks were recognised
:
tragic, comic, &c. Definite types of Masks were connected with de-
finite characters and "persons". The mouth-openings of these Masks
were unnaturally large and shaped like a bell-mouth, so as to reinforce
the voice of the speaker; in Latin the mask is termed "persona" (from
personare = to sound through). From thea.trical, the Masks passed
to artistic use, e.
g.
in the mural paintings of theatres and secular
edifices (Pompeian decorations), on Bacchic vessels and other utensils
(various beakers in the silver treasure of Hildesheim). The Renascence
and the following styles have at times used Masks in decoration,
altering and exaggerating the forms. In particular the Mask is often
used for the decoration of the keystones of door and window arches.
We may also mention the beautiful, freely-treated Heads of dying
R'arriors by Schluter on the arsenal at Berlin; and the Masks in
Antique style on the new Opera House in Paris, by Gamier.
Plate 61. The Mask.
1. Bacchus, Graeco Italic, fragment ot a vessel or utensil.
2

3. Heads, goblet (Hildesheim treasure), Roman, Berlin Museum.

4. Keystone, Graeco Italic, terracotta, Campana collection.
5. Part of Frieze, Graeco Italic, Campana collection.
6. Silenus, handle of Etruscan vessel.
7
8. Decoration, Pompeii.