Persona

September 30 to November 19, 2022

 

The word prosopon, in ancient Greece, was used to refer to the face, the mask or the person playing a role. A similar meaning was later transferred to the Latin term persona, but the Romans introduced a distinction between the naked human being and his various personae, attributing a positive and legal status only to masks. However, at the beginning of the modern age, a further division began to separate the Roman concept of persona from that of mask. The mask then experienced a reversal, becoming an attribute capable of hiding or altering a person's appearance, an artifact whose specific function would be falsifying the truth. Emblematic in this sense is the use of 'tirelle' or 'blankets', sliding panels used in the 16th century to protect portraits and veil their original image. In particular, the iconography of the famous Uffizi tirella bearing the inscription SVA CVIQVE PERSONA - to each his own mask - would seem to evoke the subject hidden behind the painted mask in the foreground, alluding to the possibility of choosing how to present oneself to others in certain circumstances.

 

What if all interpretations could coexist? A mask, a certain personality or attitude chosen for a specific situation, a shield or refuge, a device to further one's goals…. Aren’t we simply the whole set of our personae? Why should we choose?