Mask 1610 - 1664

This etching, created by Stefano della Bella in the 17th century, captures a grotesque mask, a face of exaggerated features with horns. This image, beyond mere decoration, vibrates with cultural memory. The mask, an ancient artifact, served as a conduit to the spiritual world, seen in rituals from ancient Greece to tribal Africa. Della Bella’s mask, with its horned visage, evokes the pagan god Pan, a symbol of untamed nature and primal instinct. As centuries passed, such figures evolved, sometimes demonized by the Church, yet they continued to surface in carnivals, festivals, and folklore, a testament to humanity's enduring fascination with the irrational and the ecstatic. The grimace, frozen in ink, is a powerful force, a visual echo that resonates in our collective subconscious, reminding us of the blurred boundaries between the human and the animal, the sacred and the profane.