Comments on: Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream

Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream

gwint — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:40:48 -0800

By: gwint

gwint — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:42:37 -0800

By: nylon

nylon — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:55:58 -0800

weird. did Nietzsche not have a mouth? was he killed in a road accident? aha - wait - a quick look at the very next picture tells us it was in fact a sensational beard. soup must have been a nightmare.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 13:56:34 -0800

Yow! Lucky preview found your post or I'd have doubled up! I found it incredibly hard to figure out who they were without looking (and it didn't help that I hadn't heard of at least half of them). Still pretty interesting stuff! I did like my Post Title though, Deathmasks: Because You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a Last Impression.

By: coelecanth

coelecanth — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:04:31 -0800

fenriq -- that's a great title. And this site's going to cost me the rest of my day. I wonder if noses like Dante Alligheri's are entirely a thing of the past?

By: keswick

keswick — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:14:42 -0800

This site rocks. It's fascinating to see what people like Dante, Robespierre, Beethoven, Shakespeare, etc., actually looked like. Be sure to check out the Victorian death photographs off the top-level. Tragic, haunting, and compelling stuff. I did a "deathmask" my freshman year in college and I still have it. They're definitely an interesting experience, if you're alive for 'em.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:15:36 -0800

coelecanth, thanks but I do have to admit that I stole it from the Yahoo link to the site. I think I want my deathmask to have eyes that open every once in a while to scare kids.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 14:34:10 -0800

This is one of my favorite links that I've ever seen on Metafilter. Thanks.

By: dryad

dryad — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 15:10:03 -0800

Fascinating. Thank you for pointing us to it. (I think that my favorite so far has been Julius Caesar.)

By: kindall

kindall — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 15:27:40 -0800

I've got to say, Isaac Newton looks an awful lot like Robin Williams. Or, I guess, the other way 'round...

By: _sirmissalot_

_sirmissalot_ — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:14:22 -0800

This is just great. I only wish there was some kind of documentation or other information for each mask image. I mean, Julius Caesar? Really?

By: Devils Slide

Devils Slide — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:21:06 -0800

What a cool site.

By: LittleMissCranky

LittleMissCranky — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:54:45 -0800

I love this -- thanks for posting it. It's really striking how different they look; some look peaceful, some look positively worn out. On preview: wow, Newton does look like Robin Williams.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 19:17:40 -0800

I don't buy the Julius Caesar one, either. C'mon, let's see some provenance! If I have to list every person who ever handled my mint copy of Amazing Mega-Man #1 (Platinum, with Titanium border) to prove it's the Real Thing, then it should be just that hard for death masks. I mean, maybe the guy who you bought it from was sure it was Julius Caesar, but ...

By: anastasiav

anastasiav — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 21:52:53 -0800

{this is good}

By: taz

taz — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 22:50:19 -0800

This is so strange. After RavinDave's comment here about Ebay "lifemasks" the other day, I looked around a bit and found this utterly amazing death mask collection at Princeton - truly an all-star cast! (Pun intended.) I was going to make this my next post, damn your eyes, gwint!

By: Witty

Witty — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 01:04:01 -0800

Take a few minutes to read some of the comments in the gallery of keswick's link. Who are these people (the commenters)? Gimme a break.