A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, as well as in the performing arts and for entertainment. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body.
Papierkrattler masks at the Narrensprung 2005 Carnival parade, Ravensburg, Germany
The so-called 'Mask of Agamemnon', a 16th-century BC mask discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876 at Mycenae, Greece, National Archaeological Museum, Athens
Funeral mask of K'inich Janaab' Pakal at the National Museum of Anthropology (Mexico)
Theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy. Mosaic, Roman mosaic, second century AD
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television. Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's Poetics —the earliest work of dramatic theory.
Depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's play Richard III
Relief of a seated poet (Menander) with masks of New Comedy, 1st century BC – early 1st century AD, Princeton University Art Museum
An ivory statuette of a Roman actor of tragedy, 1st century AD.
Stage drawing from a 15th-century vernacular morality play The Castle of Perseverance (as found in the Macro Manuscript).