Masks
Masks are mysterious objects par excellence. In ancient societies, masks, enabling metamorphoses, were designed to hide the face for religious or theatrical purposes and were used as much for unveiling as for veiling. With or without a facial expression, masks both surprise and question.
They have always captivated artists.
As well as ritual masks from all countries of the world, death masks reserved for an elite group, or studio models for a future works of art, masks can also be architectural ornaments or grotesques. Masks belong in particular to the world of masquerades, dressing up and masked balls such as those that take place in Venice and anywhere during the Carnival season, inspiring gallantry and fuelling the power of seduction.
Here is a gallery of real and imaginary portraits, smiling or grimacing, seductive or menacing, evoking Man in all his "states".
