Grotesques, Caricatures and the Clever Mice at Pistiros

Abstract

The article discusses a selection of five particular pieces from the 27 sealings found at Pistiros in Bulgaria in 2012, most of them with two imprints, apparently attached to a document with a contract or a deal. Subjects represented on the seals discussed here show grotesques, caricatures and mice acting as humans. They reflect a specific anecdotic side of Greek art in its northern fringes expressed in grotesque, at the time of Philip II and Alexander the Great. Attached is a late 4th century BC Attic pelike from Pistiros with similar caricature of Rhea and Kronos, from the ca. 310 BC destruction.

Keywords

• seal imprints
• pottery
• Scythians
• comic actors
• Hermaphrodite
• Kronos
• Rhea
• 5th and 4th century BC Greek art