Death Masks

Photo used to created my Death Mask

After our lecture talking about consumption and deathliness we went through all the causes of common deaths in the Victorian period. Another subject we looked at was mourning death in the era, this showed us a variety of ways the Victorians mourned in the 1800's as they were so fascinated about death. One of the popular mourning rituals to do was to create a death mask so they could reserve the faced of their loved ones for many years.

In our recent lecture we took a photograph of our face in black and white and tried to create lines and shadows on the face. Once the photo was taken we then studied the lines on the face and tried to recreate the image on our faces like a death mask.

Firstly I started with getting my Charles Fox supra colour paint out and two brushes, foundation brush and a thin, small square brush. I started with creating the darkest parts of my face first which was pretty much back, I started with the foundation brush and started painting on the lines of the face following the photograph. I then mixed the black paint with the white to create a dark grey and filled in the areas that were second darkest on my face, I then added a little bit more white to the grey to create a light grey colour for the rest of face with highlights of nearly completely white. I used my small brush to apply smaller areas and create the lines on my face.

The idea of the face mask was to recreate the photo, I wanted to portray mine with sharp edges and lines down the face. With the use of the different greys my mask looks quite abstract and the harsh lines came out very strong; this is what I wanted to portray.

Final Mask in Colour

Black and white Version 

History of the death mask:

The eerie death mask of Francois Courvoisier, taken after his execution by hanging in 1840 and exhibited in Madame Tussaud’s ‘Chamber of Horros’ well into the 20th century.
https://ainsworthandfriends.wordpress.com/2013/02/

     Ned Kelly death mask, 1880

This is a plaster death mask of the head of bushranger Ned Kelly, including the neck and partial right shoulder. Ned Kelly was hanged at Melbourne Gaol on the morning of 11 November 1880. Immediately after his body was taken down from the gallows, his hair and beard were shaved off and a mould taken of his head by Maximilien Kreitmayer. The mask is a unique three-dimensional representation of one of Australia's better-known historical figures, created shortly after his death.

The 'modem' method for making a death/life mask requires the application of oil or grease to the subject's face then a coat of plaster of paris that is allowed to harden before being is removed. This creates a mould that can be used to cast the mask. Because they are created from a mould taken shortly after a person dies, death masks offer a unique view of the dead person. Formal portraits, whether painted or photographed, present a two-dimensional image, often reflecting the way a person wishes to be remembered.

http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?app=tlf&irn=76705

Making a plaster death mask, New York circa 1908, George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress

Sir Issac NewtonThe making of death masks became popular in the 1800s, but the practice has much older roots. The first masks and effigies made in wax directly from the features of the deceased date from medieval Europe.

http://onelondonone.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/macabre-look-at-death-masks.html