c. 1560
Mask
Monogrammist IHSItalian, active 1560 - 1572
The sixteenth-century interest in decorative masks has its roots in antique examples. In classical antiquity, masks were used in the theater as well as in the ornamentation of architecture. In the Renaissance, masks like this one were applied to both architecture and decoration, where they often appeared as grimacing faces composed of half-animal and half-vegetable features.
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