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The Mycenaean Collection

The Mask of 'Agamemnon' is the most expressive one found in Grave Circle A
Mask of 'Agamemnon'

This so-called mask of Agamemnon is the best known of Schliemann's finds from the royal tombs at Mycenae. A death-mask, it was made from a thick sheet of metal hammered against a wooden background, with the details chased on later with a sharp tool. It illustrates the dignified image of a man with an oblong face, wide forehead, long fine nose and tightly closed thin lips. The eyebrows, mustache and beard are indicated with repouss? parallel lines. Two holes near the ears were used to hold the mask in place with twine over the deceased's face. The five gold masks discovered in Mycenae's Grave Circle A were probably made for rulers. This one, the only mask showing a bearded man, stands out for its elegance and the intensity of the facial characteristics.

Exhibit Features
Date: Late Bronze Age, 16th century B.C.
Place of discovery: Mykines
Dimensions: width: 0,017 m, height: 0,025 m, weight: 168,5 gr
Material: Gold
Inventory number: 624
Exhibition hole: Exhibition hall 4
Copyright: Hellenic Mnistry of Culture
 
 
 
  Suggestive Bibliography
 
Blegen C.W., "Early Greek Portraits", AJA 66, (1962), pp. 245-247, fig. 62.6
 
Karo G., Die Schachtgraber von Mykenai, Munchen, 1930, 121, taf. LI
 
Δημακοπούλου Κ. (επιμ.), Τροία, Μυκήνες, Τίρυνς, Ορχομενός. Εκατό χρόνια από το θάνατο του Ερρίκου Σλήμαν, Αθήνα, 1990, σσ. 139-140, αρ. 1
 
Το Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο, Αθήνα, 1999, σ. 20