funerary mask

A funerary mask is a cast or likeness of a deceased person's face, primarily used in burial customs across various cultures. These masks served multiple purposes: to honor the deceased, to facilitate a connection with the spirit world, to guide the spirit to its final resting place, or to ward off malevolent spirits.

Ancient Egyptians placed stylized masks on their dead, often made of plaster or cloth, with more important figures having masks of gold or silver, such as the famous mask of Tutankhamen. In Mycenaean tombs, gold masks were found, and similar gold masks were used for kings in Cambodia and Siam. Inca royalty wore golden masks, while lesser individuals had masks of wood or clay. Ancient Romans sometimes used wax masks resembling the deceased, which were preserved as ancestor portraits called imagines. From the late Middle Ages through the 18th century, effigy masks were made for European royalty and nobility.1

In contrast, Fayum portraits from Roman Egypt were realistic depictions painted on wooden tablets or linen shrouds, placed directly on the mummy's face. Death masks, typically made of wax or plaster, have also been kept as mementos and aided sculptors of tomb effigies.42