Death Masks

Consumption and deathliness

The Victorians were known for having a fascination with the death and dying , this fascination can also be considered a fear due to Victorians also having their own death culture which included an obsession of being buried alive. Many rituals in order to avoid those being buried alive included Victorians who had experienced death would  leave the body up to three weeks, to decay and decompose in order to be almost certain that their loved ones had past before burying the body.

The Victorians would also carry out another ritual which was once someone had passed away, a bell would be placed above the ground with a bell ringer linking to the body just in case someone woke from a coma and happened to have been buried alive. the famous phrase "saved by the bell" is where the phrase originated from.

Anonymous. (07/11/12). why were women obsessed with death. Available: http://unhingedhistorian.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/why-were-victorians-obsessed-with-death.html. Last accessed 11/02/15.

During the Victorian era there was a high percentage of mortality, a humans life span was half of what it is in modern day times this was due to many factors such as

• child birth and infant mortality
• fatal diseases
• death in the city
• cholera
• industrial deaths

Many victorian deaths were due to diseases , this was due to medicines being unavailable throughout the era. In 1859 sewer issues were experienced this caused an increase on poor health and hygiene , which also had an impact on why mortality was at a high percentage. An Approximate percent of 80% of Victorians died in the family household with family members surrounding them, witnessing the tradgedies .

Queen Victoria

 

During the Victorian era, mourning had reached its peak.
The obsession with death in the Victorian era began when Queen Victoria, air to the thrown experienced the loss of her beloved husband Prince Albert, for forty years she mourned dressed in black and mourned him. The average amount of time a person usually is in mourning for is for two and a half years. After the death of Prince Albert Queen Victorian was represented in images portraying a  bust or painting of her family or Prince Albert. Queen Victoria's aunt also died she was mourned for 21 days, mourning could sometimes last up to two years. People idolised Queen Victorian throughout the era and wanted to be like her this can be considered why the Victorians were obessed with death. Black writing paper with Envelops which were usually sealed with black wax was another tradition of the mourning period.

Maurice Baren (1999). victorian shopping. England: Michael Omara. 68-69.

The art of death

The Victorians presented there love for those who had passed in a variety of sentimental ways, such as mourning jewellery of loved ones which usually included locks of hair as a rememberance .The rise of park cemetery, the death of Prince Albert momentum and momento Mori , which was a reminder of death .

The Victorians had  many mourning traditions such as covering mirrors shutting curtains, stopping clocks and a wake which was when the body was watched at all times until the burial .Another Victorian tradition was to photograph the death and departed which gave the loved ones a visual record of the departed life, photography which was invented in 1839, was used to also photograph relatives to visit and have photographs taken with the departed this could sometimes meaning the body could be sat decomposing for a matter of weeks.

Victorian spirit photography was another tradition which focused on the mourner rather than the mourned
which was a popular way for a Victorian to grieve.

Anonymous. (07/11/12). why were victorians obsessed with death. Available: http://unhingedhistorian.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/why-were-victorians-obsessed-with-death.html. Last accessed 12/02/15.

Mourning in the marketplace was another tradition which clearly highlights the Victorians obsession with death, this was a huge advertisement where professional mourners were needed. Professional mourners were people who would attend many burials and mourn, the louder a mourner would cry the more important the person was consider.

Death masks which is an example of momento mori were created using wax or plaster this would remind love ones of the departed. The death mask became a popular fashion after the famous death mask the unknown women of sane' was created in 1880 , the mask was created by an artist who found the women in a river in Paris her expression was considered to be mesmerizing as a result a reminder of the women was created.

In my own time I created three different types of death masks. Firstly I took a variety of photographs with different lighting and then applied shadows to the areas of the face, which appeared darker in the photographs .

Anna Edwards. (03/06/11). how girl who drowned herself becomes the most kissed faceof all time. Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1393184/How-girl-drowned-Paris-kissed-face-time.html. Last accessed 12/02/15.

Modern fashion can also be considered as relating to the Victorian era, particularly gothic fashion which is known to include dark hair an makeup and clothing which can be considered as an inspiration from the Victorian era.

 

In order to create a death mask on our partners we firstly had to take photograph and analyse where the shadows appeared on the face .

Next I applied a white ilamsasqua base colour to the face to give a pale complexion then using a grey and black and grey eyeshadow from my kryolan pallet I applied shadow to the face, taking into consideration to make sure the product was blended into the face in order to prevent the makeup frm appearing patchy.

The first image I took was of the light being situated behind me. Analysing the image the left side of my face and under my chin appears quite dark in comparison to the right side of my face. When creating my death mask this was something I took into consideration.

Firstly I applied thin layer of illmasqua base colour which gave me quite a pale complexion, the using from my kryolan  eyeshadow pallet I shaded the darker areas of my face using a black and grey from the pallet, and in order to lighten and bring out certain areas of my face I applied a white from the pallet to act as a highlighter.

I was generally quite happy with te outcome of my first death mas which I created, I felt applying a light base colour helped the shadowed areas to stand out, also by using a powder product rather than a paint I feel made the makeup look more subtle and realistic .

I took several photographs of the first death mask I create in order to compliment the makeup .

 

my second photograph which I took for my second death mask was taken in a much lighter location which made majority of my face seem quite bright and the right side of my face and neck seem darker.

For my second death mask I experimented using different products for the look, this time I used light a light coloured foundation to act as a base and a darker foundation to highlight the shadows , In order to really  bring out the shadows around my features I applied a grey and black from my kryolan eyeshadow pallet to add more depth to the shadow.

Once I had taken my photograph of my second death mask I felt the makeup looked quite subtle and didn't show off its full potential therefore I decided to change the image to a black and white photograph in order to highlight the shadows.

I felt using foundation to highlight and shadow the skin helped  the skin seem more smooth which made the death mask seem more eery .

 

For my third attempt at a death mask I using only a white and black from my kryolan pallet in order to create a varity of different shades . I applied black to my features which appeared dark in the photograph particularly on the right hand side in the photograph aswell as the right hand side of my face for example on my forehead. I then blended out the colour on my face to create a shadow.

 

I found using supracolour for my death mask worked well especially when creating shadows and shading the skin from light to dark. However I feel previous death masks I have created by using eyeshadow worked better.

Using the grey and black from my kryolan pallet and my rounded blending brush I created a face chart resembling a death mask and portraying shadows.