Death mask
In the late Middle Ages, a shift took place from sculpted masks to true death masks, made of wax or plaster. These masks were not buried with the dead. Instead, they were used in funeral ceremonies and were later kept in libraries, museums and universities. Death masks were taken not only of dead royalty and nobility (Henry VIII, Sforza), but also of important people—poets, philosophers, and dramaturges, such as Dante, Filippo Brunelleschi, Torquato Tasso, Blaise Pascal and Voltaire. Like in ancient Rome, death masks were often then used in making marble sculpture portraits, busts or engravings of the deceased.