ESCUTCHEON MASK

Description This hollow zoomorphic mask served as a knocker holder in a presumably funerary context. The mask has raised muzzle features, with applied elements such as the large forked horns that branch out laterally on the forehead: they are very sinuous and pointed, with a short upper branch. The monster has large, bulging eyes, bushy, downward-sloping eyebrows, pig-like ears, a broad, flat nose, and a huge, open, arched mouth with square teeth visible. The round muzzle is enriched by a pointed end at the top of the head, perhaps a third horn, and three similar points on the chin. The horn and the central tip, symmetrical, are painted the same black color. The apotropaic function of the mask is mediated by its expression fixed between the sad and the good-natured.