Su Boe Mask – Boes & Merdules

Original pencils on paper 11″ x 14″.

Black frame.

Su Boe” (the Ox) is one of the main characters of Ottana’s Carnival.

The origin of this chiseled pear wooden bovine mask dates back to the apotropaic rites of ancient Mediterranean civilizations. The most widely accepted theory today is, in fact, that of a rite in honor of the god Dionysus, who is reborn every year in spring, awakening the earth and vegetation, whose propitiation was essential to obtain abundant rains and harvests. However, the characteristics of the Carnival from Ottana also led to the so-called “cult of the ox,” practiced since the Neolithic age in all the agro-pastoral societies of the ancient Mediterranean, where the bull symbolized strength, vitality, and fertility. The rite would have an apotropaic function, practiced to protect oneself from evil spirits and propitiate the fertility of the herds.

$20.00 – $350.00

Sold By

Pierangela Garau