Death Mask Crusaders
A death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person’s 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 the seventeenth century in some European countries, it was common for death masks to be used as part of the effigy of the deceased, displayed at state funerals. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they
were also used to permanently record the features of unknown corpses for purposes of identification. This function was later replaced by photography.
The mask above is that of Blaise Pascal , he was amazing at math, he died at 39.
The Video below is on a guy named Nick Reynolds who does contemporary death mask art.
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