Students learned about the Mask of Agamemnon. (above) This mask was discovered in Mycenae, Greece in the 1800's by Henrich Schlieman. The gold mask, is a death mask of King Agamemnon and is an excellent example of Metal Repousse. Students took inspiration from Greece and the Greek Gods to come up with a mask idea of their own. Students used metal tooling foil to try out the metal repousse technique. It's amazing that today we are using the same techniques that artisans were using thousands of years ago. Students explored how to make raised and pockets, patterns and designs on their masks.
In college I was lucky enough to visit Greece, and was able to visit Mycenae the place where the mask was found, and also see it on display in the National Museum in Athens. The actual mask is small in size, but the metal work is amazing. Displayed along with the mask are hundreds more artifacts, many gold, that Schlieman discovered along with the mask.
