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The lost art of the death mask – BBC.com

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By Zaria Gorvett@ZariaGorvett

Alamy Abraham Lincoln's life mask, taken two months before he died (Credit: Alamy)Alamy

The Western world was once obsessed with these macabre memorials.

*This article contains details and images that some readers might find distressing.

On 7 May 1821, two doctors were engrossed in a frantic search. There was a decomposing body at stake – and if they didn’t find some plaster soon, its features would be lost forever.

Mere hours earlier, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had succumbed to a brief illness, after six years in exile. Those in attendance were keen to create a death mask, an impression of the face usually taken soon after the person has died. But there were two small glitches to the plan.

Firstly, the hunt was unfolding on the tropical island of Saint Helena, a barren speck in the South Atlantic, 807 miles (1,299km) from any other land. There were no shops on this “miserable and dreary rock“, as Napoleon described it, that could supply highly specialist products such as plaster. Secondly, neither of the doctors present had ever made a death mask before.

The history of death masks stretches back millennia, deep into antiquity. Most of them were not exact replicas taken from moulds, but artworks created for elite members of society – protective armour that could help the deceased to navigate the afterlife or ward off evil spirits.

By the late Middle Ages, Europe had become obsessed with death, after the plague wiped out up to 50% of the population in just four traumatic years. It was at this moment that true death masks superseded the sculpted, artistic kind. These likenesses, created by moulding wax or plaster over the face, were a useful way of fossilising the features of deceased relatives, so that sculptors could use them as a reference for the lifelike portraits displayed at funerals. Then in the 18th Century, something unexpected happened: people began to value death masks for their own sake.

For the next 200 years, doctors across Europe set about assiduously preserving these glimpses of the moments after death for posterity. The faces of icons, criminals and even babies were immortalised in grisly detail – a practise that coincided with a surge of interest in the pseudoscience phrenology, in which a person’s personality traits were inferred from the features of their skull. Many death masks were turned into spooky heirlooms, while some became souvenirs that command six-figure sums to this day. One was revered as an object of beauty comparable to the Mona Lisa, inspiring countless artworks and wild theories.

This is a short history of the death mask, and what it can reveal about how our attitudes to death have changed over the centuries. 

Alamy Early copies of Napoleon Bonaparte's death mask are now extremely valuable (Credit: Alamy)Alamy
Early copies of Napoleon Bonaparte’s death mask are now extremely valuable (Credit: Alamy)

A collector’s item

Back on the island of Saint Helena, the two doctors still needed to make Napoleon’s death mask – and still couldn’t find any plaster. But they had a couple of backup ideas.

One of them – Napoleon’s personal physician François Antommarchi – darted off to the local village, Jamestown, and purchased some 150 figurines made from plaster. These were then ground down to a powder and used to make an improvised plaster mash. Alas, when this messy mixture was applied to the dead man’s face, it didn’t work.

The other doctor – Irish surgeon Francis Burton – focused his efforts on tracking down the raw ingredient in plaster: gypsum, a soft mineral found in layers of sedimentary rock. To turn one into the other, gypsum is ground into a powder, and heated to evaporate off its water content. This breaks down the crystals within the rock. The next step is mixing this dehydrated gypsum with water again to form a paste. As it dries, its crystal structure reforms and the plaster is left set in its moulded state.

Eventually a local source of this prized ingredient was identified, and one and a half days after Napoleon took his final, shallow breaths, the cast was accomplished. By this point, Napoleon had been deceased for longer than was usual when making death masks, so his face is immortalised in its deathly state – with sunken eyes and hollowed cheeks. Decomposition had begun to kick in already, and the facial muscles were less tense, giving the usually-melancholy man a relaxed look.

However, if the former French emperor had dreamed that his likeness would have ended up at the bedside of his wife, Marie Louise, or in a place of national honour, he might have been surprised at what happened next. Antommarchi eventually stole the blueprint for his colleague’s successful death mask, and created hundreds of copies which could be purchased as collectible souvenirs, for as little as 20 francs. Though the original death mask has long since vanished, its progeny are scattered at museums and in private collections across the globe to this day.

Getty Images Isaac Newton's death mask was created as a guide for future sculptures (Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images
Isaac Newton’s death mask was created as a guide for future sculptures (Credit: Getty Images)

The Age of Enlightenment

When Isaac Newton died in his sleep at the age of 84, in 1727, he left behind an intimidating legacy. Among other things, this included a corpus of letters and manuscripts comprising some 10 million words of writing, numerous world-changing discoveries, including the laws of gravity, endless notes on failed alchemical experiments – and a bizarre assortment of anagrams of his own name. Soon afterwards, a death mask was added to this list.

Alamy Claudia Victoria lived in the Roman city of of Lugdunum, in present-day Lyon (Credit: Alamy)Alamy
Claudia Victoria lived in the Roman city of of Lugdunum, in present-day Lyon (Credit: Alamy)

Ancient Rome

In the Roman era, elite citizens often honoured the death of a family member by creating idealised funerary masks. These “imagines” weren’t usually buried with the deceased, but kept as memorials and stored in special niches in the family home – and even sometimes worn to other funerals by living family members. This tradition was traditionally reserved for older men and allowed for them to be initiated into a family’s canon of ancestors.

But around the 2nd Century AD, there was a twist: imagines became popular among the lower classes, too. These versions were true death masks, made as casts, and in this non-elite world, they weren’t just reserved for men. According to research by Kelsey Madden, a research student in archaeology at the University of Sheffield, UK, this hints that, for the lower classes, women and children were also allowed to become “ancestors”.

One famous imagine thought to be in this category is that of Claudia Victoria, a 10-year-old girl who lived in the Roman city of Lugdunum in Gaul, which is now buried under Lyon, France. Her round, youthful face was captured in plaster, and buried alongside her in her tomb. The inscription read: “To the departed spirit of Claudia Victoria who lived ten years, one month and eleven days. Her mother Claudia Severina made this monument for her sweet daughter and for herself in her lifetime.”

Alamy No one knows how the girl known as L'Inconnue de la Seine ended up in the river (Credit: Alamy)Alamy
No one knows how the girl known as L’Inconnue de la Seine ended up in the river (Credit: Alamy)

The Industrial Revolution

In the late 1880s, the body of a young woman – thought to have drowned – was found floating in the Seine river in Paris. The corpse was taken to the local morgue, which was a popular attraction at the time, and put on display in case anyone could identify the person it belonged to. Instead, in an uncomfortable development to a story that has since been acknowledged as deeply creepy, the pathologist on duty became so taken with the young woman’s beauty and innocence that he had a death mask made before she was buried.

The cast from L’Inconnue de la Seine, “the unknown woman of the Seine”, in which the woman seems to be smiling contentedly with her lips pursed, was subsequently turned into a popular artwork. The work inspired sculptors, writers and painters, and was displayed on the walls of the houses of ordinary people, until, one day – over half a century after its unknown subject died – a Norwegian toy manufacturer decided to use the face for a lifelike resuscitation doll he was working on. “Resusci Annie”, sometimes known as “rescue Annie”, was born, and it’s been estimated that the CPR courses she has helped with have saved some 2.5 million people from cardiac arrest.

Alamy Tracey Emin's artworks are often autobiographical and confessional (Credit: Alamy)Alamy
Tracey Emin’s artworks are often autobiographical and confessional (Credit: Alamy)

The modern era

With changing attitudes to death and the growing popularity of photography in the 19th and early 20th Centuries, the practice of making death masks gradually fell out of fashion. People just didn’t need them anymore when they could look at a photo of their lost loved ones instead.  

Today the practise of making death masks has largely disappeared. But some artists are still keeping it alive through their own modern interpretations.

One example is the “death mask” series created by Tracey Emin. The English artist is famous for creating honest, sometimes shocking works that tell her own story, and the four impressions – which she took of her own face – have been described as ironic and autobiographical. They also challenge the historical expectation that death masks were created for men.

Another modern take is a work by the sculptor Robert Gober, who preserved the memory of his beloved dog, Paco, by moulding its snout and then blending this with a cast of his own face. The cartoonish result was Gober’s way of preserving this ancient tradition – and who knows, it might just catch on.

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A misspelled memorial to the Brontë sisters gets its dots back at last

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LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.

More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.

The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.

They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.

“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”

It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.

Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”

Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.

“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Calvin Lucyshyn: Vancouver Island Art Dealer Faces Fraud Charges After Police Seize Millions in Artwork

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In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.

Alleged Fraud Scheme

Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.

Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.

Massive Seizure of Artworks

In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.

Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.

Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed

In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.

Court Proceedings Ongoing

The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.

Impact on the Local Art Community

The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.

For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.

As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.

While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.

Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.

As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.

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Ukrainian sells art in Essex while stuck in a warzone – BBC.com

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Ukrainian sells art in Essex while stuck in a warzone  BBC.com

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