A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body, so in parts of Australia giant totem masks cover the body, whilst Inuit women use finger masks during storytelling and dancing.
Read more about Mask: Etymology, History, Masks in Performance, Ritual Masks, Masks in Theatre, Functional Masks, Punitive, Fashion, Horror Film, Other Types
Famous quotes containing the word mask:
“The Liberal State is a mask behind which there is no face; it is a scaffolding behind which there is no building.”
—Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)
“Mediocrity is the most effective mask a superior spirit can wear, because to the great majority, which is to say, to the mediocre, it will not suggest a disguise:—and yet it is precisely for their sake that he puts it on—so as not to arouse them, and, indeed, not infrequently to avoid this out of pity and benevolence.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“What! Would you make no distinction between hypocrisy and devotion? Would you give them the same names, and respect the mask as you do the face? Would you equate artifice and sincerity? Confound appearance with truth? Regard the phantom as the very person? Value counterfeit as cash?”
—Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)