Grotesque male head

Grotesque male head, clay, hand modelled, pressed into the form, fired (ceramic), clay, Total: Height: 9.5 cm; Width: 5.4 cm; Depth: 9.8 cm, ceramic, Types of people, Hellenism, Early Imperial Period, Middle Imperial Period, The grotesque head of a man is characterized by the long nose protruding from the face like a cone. The man is bald up to a wide hair-wreath. The halves of the face are deformed, the large eyes with the drilled pupils almost pushed to the sides due to the narrow face. The back of the head is protruding. The neck against it long and dry. In its distortion the portrait is grotesque and at the same time a caricature of slaves and members of the lower class. The facial expression seems ill-tempered. The figure belongs to the group of the so-called Fayum terracottas. In Alexandria, the international, Greek-influenced center of Egypt, lives a multicultural society of Egyptians, Orientals, Greeks, Romans, Jews and others, whose different religious ideas are gradually blending together. Insights into this world of faith are provided by the so-called Fayum terracottas. They are part of the religious household, children's toys, knick-knacks, but also cult symbols, grave goods, pilgrimage images, votive offerings and magical objects for banishing evil forces. They can be found in houses, graves and sanctuaries. (Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)