The Real Face of James Monroe - Death Mask Reconstruction

What did Founding Fathers Look Like?

James Monroe

I had not planned to reconstruct a death mask, but due to numerous requests for James Monroe, I decided to undertake the task. The sculptor John Henri Isaac Browere, famous for his life masks of John Adams, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and other prominent early Americans, created only one death mask, that of James Monroe.

Monroe spent his final six months residing with his daughter and son-in-law in New York City. He passed away there on July 4, 1831, exactly five years after his friend Jefferson. His death occurred a little after 3 p.m., and he was laid to rest on July 7. During this period, Browere took a death mask. Initially, Browere had hoped to create a life mask of Monroe, but the former president declined to pose, perhaps due to what had befallen Jefferson. Since the soul had departed, Browere never transformed the mask into a portrait bust, leaving the eyes closed and the hair unmodelled. However, as Charles Henry Hart noted, "it is difficult to believe it was made after life was gone, so vibrant with life it seems." In terms of likeness, it compares favorably with the portrait painted by Chester Harding from life in 1829." ¹

Having a death mask of an individual supposedly provides an accurate representation of their appearance, right?

Well, the answer is both yes and no. When a person dies, the facial muscles relax and droop, causing the eyes to sink, and wrinkles can soften or even vanish. Some of the most recognizable features of a person become flattened, devoid of the expressions that life once imbued them with.

Therefore, while many death masks manage to capture a person's likeness with great precision, this is not always the case. Consequently, relying solely on a death mask to authenticate a portrait may not always yield an exact result. This appears to be the situation with James Monroe. It is likely that Monroe was lying down when Browere cast the mask of his face. His eyes and cheeks appeared sunken, and gravity had flattened his nose and lips. Unlike the reconstruction of life masks, death masks necessitate some "artistic license." In other words, the physical structure of the mask needs to be altered. I usually avoid such modifications when reconstructing life masks. In order to transform James Monroe's death mask into a lifelike representation, I had to reverse the effects of gravity and slightly lift the nose and lips. I also had to counteract the effects of death by filling in his eye sockets and cheeks. Since Browere had not opened the eyes in this mask, I utilized the eyes from Chester Harding's 1829 painting, as well as replicating the hairstyle.

While it is impossible to create an exact likeness of Monroe, I hope that this reconstructed death mask provides a glimpse of how James Monroe truly appeared in his final years.

Prints and Postcards

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Sources & References:
¹ Charles Henry Hart. “The Project Gutenberg EBook of Browere’s Life Masks of Great Americans” https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51890/51890-h/51890-h.htm