Death mask

For the Saint Seiya character, see Cancer Deathmask.

For the episode of the television series Rome, see Death
Mask (Rome). For the video game titled DeathMask,
see Angel Devoid: Face of the Enemy.
A death mask is a metallic, wax or plaster cast made of

death, it was common to take casts of their hands. An

example of this occurred in the case of Thomas D'Arcy
McGee, the Canadian statesman whose face was shattered by the bullet which assassinated him in 1868.
When taken from a living subject, such a cast is called
a life mask. Proponents of phrenology used both death
masks and life masks for pseudoscientic purposes.

1 History
1.1 Sculptures

The death mask of Blaise Pascal

a persons face following death. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It
is sometimes possible to identify portraits that have been
painted from death masks, because of the characteristic slight distortions of the features caused by the weight
of the plaster during the making of the mold. In other
cultures a death mask may be a funeral mask, an image placed on the face of the deceased before burial rites,
and normally buried with them. The best known of these
are the masks used by ancient Egyptians as part of the
mummication process, such as Tutankhamuns mask,
and those from Mycenean Greece such as the Mask of
Agamemnon.
In the 10th century in some European countries, it was
common for death masks to be used as part of the egy
of the deceased, displayed at state funerals; the con
portrait was an alternative. Mourning portraits were also
painted, showing the subject lying in repose. During the
18th and 19th centuries masks were also used to permanently record the features of unknown corpses for purposes of identication. This function was later replaced
by post-mortem photography.

Tutankhamuns mask

Masks of deceased persons are part of traditions in many

countries. The most important process of the funeral
ceremony in ancient Egypt was the mummication of
the body, which, after prayers and consecration, was put
into a sarcophagus enameled and decorated with gold and
In the cases of people whose faces were damaged by their gems. A special element of the rite was a sculpted mask,
1

HISTORY

put on the face of the deceased. This mask was believed

to strengthen the spirit of the mummy and guard the soul
from evil spirits on its way to the afterworld. The best
known mask is Tutankhamuns mask. Made of gold and
gems, the mask conveys the highly stylized features of the
ancient ruler. Such masks were not, however, made from
casts of the features; rather, the mummication process
itself preserved the features of the deceased.
In 1876 the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered in Mycenae six graves, which he was condent belonged to kings and ancient Greek heroesAgamemnon,
Cassandra, Evrimdon and their associates. To his surprise, the skulls were covered with gold masks. It is now
thought by some unlikely that the masks actually belonged
to Agamemnon and other heroes of the Homeric epics.
The lifelike character of Roman portrait sculptures has
been attributed to the earlier Roman use of wax to preserve the features of deceased family members (the socalled imagines maiorum). The wax masks were subsequently reproduced in more durable stone.[1]
The use of masks in the ancestor cult is also attested in
Etruria. Excavations of tombs in the area of the ancient
city of Clusium (modern Chiusi, Tuscany) have yielded a
number of sheet bronze masks dating from the Etruscan
Late Orientalising period.[2] In the 19th century it was
thought that they were related to the Mycenaean examples, but whether they served as actual death masks cannot be proven. The most credited hypothesis holds that
they were originally xed to cinerary urns, to give them a
human appearance. In Orientalising Clusium, the anthropomorphization of urns was a prevalent phenonmenon
that was strongly rooted in local religious beliefs.

1.2

Bronze Death Mask of Napoleon

Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Also well known are the death

masks of Nicholas I, and Alexander I.
One of the rst real Ukrainian death masks was that of
the poet Taras Shevchenko, taken by Peter Clodt von Jrgensburg in St. Petersburg, Russia.[3]
In early spring of 1860 and shortly before his death in
April 1865, two life masks were created of President
Abraham Lincoln.[4]

Casts
1.3 Science

In the late Middle Ages, a shift took place from sculpted

masks to true death masks, made of wax or plaster. These
masks were not interred with the deceased. Instead, they
were used in funeral ceremonies and were later kept in
libraries, museums, and universities. Death masks were
taken not only of deceased royalty and nobility (Henry
VIII, Sforza), but also of eminent personscomposers,
dramaturges, military and political leaders, philosophers,
poets, and scientists, such as Dante Alighieri, Ludwig van
Beethoven, Napoleon Bonaparte (whose death mask was
taken on the island of Saint Helena), Filippo Brunelleschi,
Frdric Chopin, Oliver Cromwell (whose death mask is
preserved at Warwick Castle), Joseph Haydn, John Keats,
Franz Liszt, Blaise Pascal, Nikola Tesla (commissioned
by his friend Hugo Gernsback and now displayed in the
Nikola Tesla Museum), Torquato Tasso, and Voltaire. As
in ancient Rome, death masks were often subsequently Two men in the process of making a death mask, New York, c.
used in making marble sculpture portraits, busts, or en- 1908
gravings of the deceased.
In Russia, the death mask tradition dates back to the times Death masks were increasingly used by scientists from the
of Peter the Great, whose death mask was taken by Carlo late 18th century onwards to record variations in human

3
physiognomy. The life mask was also increasingly common at this time, taken from living persons. Anthropologists used such masks to study physiognomic features in
famous people and notorious criminals. Masks were also
used to collect data on racial dierences.

2 See also
Plastered human skulls
Portrait
Sculpture

1.4

Forensic science

3 References
[1] H.W. Janson with Dora Jane Janson, History of Art: A
Survey of the Major Visual Arts from the Dawn of History to the Present Day, Englewood Clis, New Jersey,
Prentice-Hall, and New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1962,
p. 141.
[2] N. Steensma, Some considerations on the function and
meaning of the Etruscan bronze masks from Chiusi
(seventh century BC), in: H. Duinker, E. Hopman & J.
Steding (eds.), Proceedings of the 11th annual Symposium
Onderzoek Jonge Archeologen, Groningen 2014, p. 65-74.
[3] Virtual Museum of Death Mask URL accessed on December 4, 2006.
[4] Portraits of the Presidents. National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution.
[5] Laerdal company website: The Girl from the River Seine
URL accessed on January 8, 2013
[6] A Death Mask to Help Save Lives Archer Gordon, M.D.,
PH.D. URL accessed on June 8, 2007

4 External links
L'Inconnue de la Seine

Before the widespread availability of photography, the facial features of unidentied bodies were sometimes preserved by creating death masks so that relatives of the deceased could recognize them if they were seeking a missing person.
One mask, known as L'Inconnue de la Seine, recorded the
face of an unidentied young woman who, around the age
of sixteen, according to one mans story, had been found
drowned in the Seine River at Paris, France around the
late 1880s. A morgue worker made a cast of her face, saying Her beauty was breathtaking, and showed few signs
of distress at the time of passing. So bewitching that I
knew beauty as such must be preserved. The cast was
also compared to Mona Lisa, and other famous paintings
and sculptures. In the following years, copies of the mask
became a fashionable xture in Parisian Bohemian society.
The face of Resusci Anne, the worlds rst CPR training mannequin, introduced in 1960, was modeled after
L'Inconnue de la Seine.[5][6]

The International Life Cast Museum

Laurence Hutton Collection of Life and Death
Masks
Collection of Death Masks History of death masks,
Pictures of death masks and historical resources
(dead link)
Episode of Radiolab discussing death masks (specifically L'Inconnue de la Seine)

5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

Death mask Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_mask?oldid=749064872 Contributors: Edward, Paul Barlow, Lquilter, Zanimum, Habj, Opus33, Polonius, OldakQuill, PDH, DragonySixtyseven, Tsemii, Eyrian, Mwanner, Longhair, Matthewcieplak, Geschichte,
Alansohn, Plumbago, Woohookitty, Camw, PoccilScript, Mandarax, Graham87, Sparkit, Jemiller226, Josh Parris, Jake Wartenberg,
Josiah Rowe, Brighterorange, SchuminWeb, Q11, Catsmeat, Cactus.man, Eclipsed Moon, YurikBot, Mikalra, RussBot, Kevs, Zaroblue05, Gaius Cornelius, Zimbricchio, ZacBowling, Howcheng, Anetode, Caerwine, Abune, SmackBot, McGeddon, Eaglizard, Jim Casper,
Gilliam, Ohnoitsjamie, Greatgavini, Dev1n, Jwy, Jerrytroll, DMacks, Andrew4010, DDima, Quendus, iga, Xakaxunknownx, Pejman47,
Dycedarg, Rook543, Goldfritha, Bobf, Thijs!bot, Boingo the Clown, RobotEater, Velvet-Glove, Davidhorman, AgentPeppermint, Escarbot, SummerPhD, Goldenrowley, Mary trump, Kaobear, MER-C, VoABot II, Froid, JaGa, Lunakeet, Bandit6789, CommonsDelinker,
Jeremicus rex, Johnbod, Cadwaladr, Moondoll, Suaven, Lights, VolkovBot, TallNapoleon, Nilvs, TXiKiBoT, Beardownaz9, Martin451,
SabreWolfy, Nihil novi, WereSpielChequers, Trigaranus, MeegsC, Crash Underride, Shakko, AutoGyro, ClueBot, Boneyard90, CBBD,
Canis Lupus, CowboySpartan, Berean Hunter, XLinkBot, BodhisattvaBot, Abomasnow, Good Olfactory, Shoemakers Holiday, EEng,
Addbot, Kongr43gpen, NjardarBot, Download, LaaknorBot, Lightbot, Aviados, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Fraggle81, Hortonicus, Ubxer, RandomAct, FriedC, Xqbot, Khruner, Crzer07, Lhboga, Shadowjams, FrescoBot, Awesomelydude, Steve Quinn, Gourami Watcher, Pinethicket,
MastiBot, , Primaler, Reasearch Method II, Lotje, EmausBot, Kueller1, Bt8257, Dougiestyle, ZroBot, Shuipzv3, Oncenawhile, Cosman246, Donner60, Bill william compton, ChuispastonBot, ClueBot NG, BG19bot, Flix11, Bookgeek205, Tehallie, Wiki13, Felidofractals,
Tony Tan, The Almightey Drill, Glacialfox, Abo Rashad, ChrisGualtieri, Ueutyi, Franois Robere, LamerGamer, Soniclore, JaconaFrere,
Jlr83, The MacLaggan, KasparBot, Rauantiques and Anonymous: 114

5.2

Images

File:001Paskal.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/001Paskal.JPG License: Public domain Contributors:

Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons. Original artist: Mary trump at English Wikipedia
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-bysa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:L'inconnue_de_la_Seine_(masque_mortuaire).jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/L%
27inconnue_de_la_Seine_%28masque_mortuaire%29.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Making_Death_Mask_Edit_4.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Making_Death_Mask_Edit_4.
jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
Making_death_mask.jpg Original artist: Making_death_mask.jpg: Bain News Service
File:Napoleon_Death_Mask.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Napoleon_Death_Mask.jpg License:
CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Rauantiques
File:People_icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/People_icon.svg License: CC0 Contributors: OpenClipart Original artist: OpenClipart
File:Portal-puzzle.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Portal-puzzle.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?
File:Tutanchamon_(js)_1.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Tutanchamon_%28js%29_1.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Jerzy Strzelecki

5.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0