Do You Recognize this Man?
Of course you know him. It is Ludwig van Beethoven, even though it looks nothing like the paintings you may have seen of him. It is but one of a collection of Death Masks that appear here. Death masks, as the name suggests, are plaster casts made from the face of a deceased person. Unlike portraits or statues, in which the artist or sculptor might tone down the less attractive attributes of the subject (who quite often was paying the artist), death masks are a “true portrait†of a person at the time of death.
Some of them are quite amazing.
Via The Presurfer
Too cool! I was struck by how world weary and bone tired both Lee and Grant looked. And how much my dad looks like Charles Edward Stuart. I showed it to Mike, saying “Look, he has my dad’s mouth…and mine.” Mike looked at the photo, looked at me and said “Well I’ll be damned. He does.”
A really interesting site.
Comment by Rita — September 1, 2004 @ 9:21 pm
While Waiting…
Jim ran across something that I’m finding absolutely fascinating–mildly morbid, I suppose, but fascinating. Check it out. (Thanks, Jim.)…
Trackback by resurrectionsong — September 1, 2004 @ 9:36 pm
Man, those are just creepy.
Comment by Russ — September 1, 2004 @ 10:58 pm
You’ll need a whole cement truck full of the stuff to do Mucci
Comment by Dan — September 2, 2004 @ 5:00 am
Death masks ARE awesome. The perfect way to recreate a bust of a person like Ludwig. Too bad we’re too sensitive to do such a thing now.
And who would know Beethoven was actually a prior incarnation of John Coltrane without a death mask?
Comment by Velociman — September 2, 2004 @ 8:32 pm