The Silver Face
The Gilded Silver Face of Peretu – One of the Most Mysterious Portraits of the Getic World
In 1970, in Peretu (Teleorman County), one of the richest princely tombs of the Getic aristocracy was discovered. Among the gilded silver helmet, luxury vessels, harnesses, and other prestige objects was an absolutely unique piece: an anthropomorphic head made of gilded silver, crafted almost in life-size. Today, it is preserved at the National Museum of Romanian History.
But who hides beneath this mask?
Unlike the famous Getic helmet of Peretu, this piece has no direct analogies within the Getic territory. The head is modeled frontally, featuring very large, almost circular eyes, massive eyebrows, a straight nose, and narrow lips. The hair is rendered in neat strands, framed by a decorated headband, and around the neck is a necklace made of miniature, amphora-shaped pendants. The entire composition radiates solemnity and authority.
There is a striking stylistic resemblance between this head and the anthropomorphic faces on the greaves (cnemides ) found at Agighiol. The large eyes, narrow lips, and the amphora-type pendant necklace seem to belong to the same artistic language of the 4th-century BC Getic aristocratic workshops A Crucial Technical Detail
The head features an opening in the neck area, indicating it was attached to another support.
It is highly possible that this head represented a component of a composite (acrolithic) statue, where only the visible parts—the head and, possibly, the hands—were made of precious metal, while the rest of the body was crafted from perishable materials like wood and textiles. However, researchers emphasize that this remains a working hypothesis, not a certainty.
Perhaps that is precisely why this piece continues to fascinate.
Could it be the image of a king, a hero, an ancestor, a deity, or a ritual image created specifically for the funeral of a Getic prince?
The Silver Face
