Fragment of Theatrical Mask of a Tragic Character

The second theatrical mask depicts a character with a sorrowful expression: the face is framed by straight locks of hair falling over a furrowed forehead, the eyebrows are markedly arched, and the eyes are set in deep sockets surrounded by wrinkles.
Although its state of preservation is not ideal, the facial features are consistent with those of a character from ancient tragedy: the slave. The treatment of the eyebrows and facial wrinkles is very similar to that of a mask from the theatre in Parma, which provides a good parallel to date this object to the first three decades of the 1st century A.D.
Like the other mask, this one was also found during the 2014 excavations conducted by the then Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Abruzzo, in the basin of a fountain positioned in front of the theatre of Amiternum. It likely decorated a portion of the monumental complex, perhaps the vaulted rooms facing the main street or the stage wall.