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Death masks—casts made from the faces of the deceased—preserve the final expressions of notable historical figures.
These famous death masks serve as exact records of facial features before photography was a thing.
Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor who conquered much of Europe before his downfall, had his death mask created in 1821 while exiled to Saint Helena. His autopsy revealed his stomach contained abnormally high levels of arsenic, fueling theories of murder.
Abraham Lincoln had two life masks made before his assassination in 1865—the second revealing deep facial creases that documented the physical toll of the Civil War on his countenance.
The deaf German composer, Ludwig van Beethoven had a death mask created in 1827 that reveals his intense facial features—including the scowl he maintained even in death.
The Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), author of “The Divine Comedy,” has a disputed death mask housed in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio that remains controversial among scholars who debate its authenticity, as it may have been created several decades after his death.
Beheaded in 1587 after 19 years of imprisonment by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, left behind a death mask showing her serene expression despite the gruesome fact that her lips continued moving for 15 minutes after her head was severed from her body.
Sir Isaac Newton, who formulated the laws of motion and gravitation, had his death mask cast in 1727. It showed the sharp features of a man who once inserted a needle into his own eye socket.
Maximilien Robespierre, architect of the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, met his end through the same guillotine he had wielded against others. He left behind a gruesome death mask that captured his severed jaw. A scream frozen in time.
English military and political leader Oliver Cromwell, who ruled as Lord Protector after deposing King Charles I, had his corpse exhumed in 1661 and posthumously executed—his death mask remained on public display for decades before changing hands among private collectors until 1960.
French Enlightenment writer Voltaire (1694-1778) challenged religious dogma and championed free speech. His death mask captured his characteristic smirk—the same irreverent expression he maintained throughout his lifelong battle against intolerance.
English Romantic poet John Keats, whose death mask was created in 1821 by his friend Joseph Severn after tuberculosis claimed him at just 25 years old, left behind a tombstone with no name—only the words “Here lies One whose Name was writ in Water.”
French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) endured lifelong illness. His death mask showed deeply sunken cheeks and hollow features that revealed the physical toll of his health struggles, including a suspected brain tumor.
L’Inconnue de la Seine is a death mask of an unidentified young woman found drowned in the Seine River in the late 1880s. Her eerily peaceful face became both a popular decoration in Parisian homes and the model for Resusci Anne, the world’s first CPR training mannequin!
American gangster John Dillinger was killed during a 1934 FBI ambush outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater. His death mask was created by the coroner amid public fascination—the plaster cast captured his distinctive facial scars while thousands lined up to view his corpse at the morgue.
Peter the Great (1672-1725), the transformative Russian tsar who modernized Russia by founding St. Petersburg—had his own death mask created by Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli—the same sculptor who later cast a bronze head from the mask that revealed the tsar stood an unusually tall 6’8” (203 cm).
King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch who seized the throne at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, had a remarkably detailed death mask made in 1509. The mask was used to create his funeral effigy. This effigy was displayed at Westminster Abbey for over 300 years, complete with real human hair.
Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini ruled Italy with an iron fist from 1922 to 1943 before being executed and publicly displayed upside-down in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto. His death mask captured his final defiant expression despite his humiliating end.
Hungarian pianist and composer Franz Liszt’s death mask captures his aged features now displayed in Weimar. He was known for his revolutionary piano technique that required such physical exertion his pianos frequently broke during performances.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House ending the American Civil War, had a death mask created after his 1870 death. The mask sparked controversy when displayed publicly.
Irish writer James Joyce, author of the revolutionary novel “Ulysses,” had his death mask created in 1941 by sculptor Paul Speck, who had to work while hiding the process from Joyce’s wife Nora, who strongly opposed the making of the mask.
Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla revolutionized electrical engineering. Had his death mask commissioned by his friend Hugo Gernsback after Tesla died penniless in a New York hotel room.
Frederick Douglass, the American abolitionist and writer who escaped slavery to become a powerful orator for freedom, had a death mask created after his passing in 1895. It now resides in the National Museum of African American History and Culture, capturing the strong facial features that once faced down President Andrew Johnson.
William Shakespeare, the influential English playwright and poet who wrote masterpieces like “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet,” has a disputed death mask that scholars increasingly believe belongs to fellow writer Ben Jonson, not Shakespeare.
Tutankhamun, the Egyptian pharaoh who ruled circa 1332-1323 BCE, was immortalized by his spectacular gold death mask weighing 24 pounds—an extraordinary creation considering his brain and internal organs were removed during mummification and stored separately in canopic jars.
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