When John Wesley passed away on March 2, 1791, a death mask was made of his face. Death masks were prevalent before the age of photography. The masks were usually made of wax or plaster and were used for portraits by artists and sculptors. In some cultures death masks served as a funeral mask. So, the practice goes back to ancient times.
On Wikipedia it explains, “Death masks were increasingly used by scientists from the late 18th century onwards to record variations in human physiognomy. The life mask was also increasingly common at this time, taken from living persons. Anthropologists used such masks to study physiognomic features in famous people and notorious criminal . . . The main purpose of the death mask from the Middle Ages until the 19th century was to serve as a model for sculptors in creating statues and busts of the deceased person. Not until the 1800s did such masks become valued for themselves.” (Death mask – Wikipedia)
The United Methodist Church has a website on John Wesley’s death mask. Here is the link: https://www.umc.org/en/content/secrets-of-john-wesleys-death-mask.
Here is part of the transcript of pathologist Dale Patterson from the website,
“This was made 5 hours after Wesley died and he died of a stroke and as a teenager he needed braces.”
He continues, “If you look around the face, you can see the characteristic droop of a stroke.” He said, “That’s how we know he had a stroke. If you look at his eyelids, you will see that there are small dimples in the eyelids. And that happens about 5 hours after death.”
“If you look at the upper right lip you’ll see a bump. That’s more than likely caused by a misaligned tooth. Today, when he was a teenager, we would have put braces on him.”
Patterson comments on the use of death masks, “Everyone from the king of England down to the local butcher, baker would have probably had a death mask made. And it would have been on display at the funeral. There were no photographs. Other than painting someone there was really no way to do a presentation of that person.”
For the YouTube video of Paterson’s comments, see https://www.youtube.com›watch?v=6E_i9DKAn0g.
Another site: https://www.wesleysheritage.org.uk/object/cast-of-john-wesleys-death-mask/.
[This post was taken with permission from the Featured Monthly Resources Page on Mark K. Olson’s website.]
