The historical object I chose when I visited the Princeton Art Museum was the "Relief of a Seated Poet (Menander) with New Comedy Masks" which was located in the hall of ancient art on the lower floor with other artifacts from ancient Rome and Greece. The artwork is a relief that reflects its raised three-dimensional perspective. It is made of white marble. The artwork shows a poet (presumably Menander), wearing a himation, sitting and studying above a dramatic mask of a young man. Meanwhile, two more dramatic masks of a woman and an old man lay on the table. On the table you can see a scroll where the masks of the woman and the old man are located. This scroll appears to be some type of poetic or theatrical composition that the poet is working on and has used the masks as inspiration. The poet in the piece directly analyzes the young man's mask, so either the young man is important in the part that the poet is writing or he is important in the entire written piece. Considering the consideration that young people received in ancient Rome, at the time a young man was at the center of a piece of writing or a play. The piece seemed quite interesting because there is such a contrast in the facial structures of the poet (presumably Menander) and the facial masks he is trying on while writing a composition. The poet looks at the masks with a stoic and unperturbed face as the masks portray a wide range of emotions. The masks of the young man and the woman look shocked and upset; the old man's mask looks more angry and surprised. Why is there such a contrast between the poet's emotions and the masks he uses as inspiration? What does this work of art say about the meaning that poetry and comedy had in ancient Rome? Many conclusions can be drawn about this story...... half the newspaper ...... and an advertisement for a theater that performed Menander's comedies. Menander was a famous Greek poet and playwright, but he probably died before this sculpture was made, so the poet was not as important as the plays that were performed. This artwork also shows what the ancient Romans and presumably the Greeks thought was fun and artistic. The masks mock a young man, a woman and an old man and Menander as the stoic man is not specifically funny. If you think about it, many cheap jokes in modern Western culture and media are based on young men, women and old people. This conclusion reinforces the existence of a connection between Roman humor and art and Western art. This is evident in the language that modern Westerners use to describe theatre, and dramatic arts such as comedy, drama and even the word theater have informed the modern Western theatrical experience..
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