Acta Universitatis Carolinae: Philologica (Oct 2017)

Grotesques, Caricatures and the Clever Mice at Pistiros

  • Jan Bouzek,
  • Iva Ondřejová

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14712/24646830.2017.20
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2017, no. 2
pp. 187 – 200

Abstract

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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.

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