Death Mask. Portrait of Rabbi Ya'akov Mazeh. By Sculptor Sergey Merkurov - Death Mask Artist. Museum Display

Death Mask. Portrait of Rabbi Ya'akov Mazeh. By Sculptor Sergey Merkurov - Death Mask Artist. Museum Display

Death mask of Rabbi Ya'akov Mazeh, chief rabbi of Moscow, whose testimony at the Beilis trial made waves throughout the Jewish world.

Made by the death mask artist, Russian sculptor Sergey Merkurov. The death masks were created as portraits of leaders of the Soviet Union, such as Tolstoy, Lenin, and more, and displayed in respected museums. Plaster sculpture, painted by an artist. Russia, 1924.

A "dead mask" or "death mask" is a posthumous casting made from a person's face. In ancient times, ceramic molds were placed on the face of the deceased just before the burial ceremony. Known masks of this type are the ones used in ancient Egypt, such as that of Tutankhamun. The mold before us was made by the famous sculptor Sergei Merkurov, whose creations stand out in their "liveliness" because it looks like the eyes are about to open and the lips part widely, despite that paradoxically, the portrait is created specifically when the casting is on the deceased's face. The work before us has several original hairs from Rabbi Mazeh's beard - whether unintentionally or deliberately - stuck on the mask.

Length: 40 cm; width: 28 cm; height: 15 cm. Very fine condition.

Refer to the Hebrew catalog text for brief biographies of Rabbi Ya'akov Mazeh and of Sergey Merkurov.

* Rabbi Mazeh's personal stamp comes together with the mask. It is made of cast brass with a wooden handle, bearing the words in Russian, "Ya'akov Yasevitz Mazeh." Fine condition.