In Roman gladiatorial tournaments masks were sometimes used. From archaeological evidence it is clear that these were not only protective but also helped make the wearer appear more intimidating. In medieval Europe and in Japan soldiers and samurai wore similarly ferocious-looking protective armour, extending to face-masks.

Burn mask, a piece of medical equipment that protects the burn tissue from contact with other surfaces, and minimises the risk of infection.

For Lecoq, masks became an important training tool, the neutral mask being designed to facilitate a state of openness in the student-performers, moving gradually on to character and expressive masks, and finally to "the smallest mask in the world" the clown's red-nose.

theatre

Three photographs of the same noh mask of a woman show how her expression appears to change with a tilting of the performer's head. To demonstrate this effect, the mask was affixed to a wall with constant lighting and only the camera was moved.

In some Greek masks, the wide and open mouth of the mask contained a brass megaphone enabling the voice of the wearer to be projected into the large auditoria.

By the 18th century, it was already a tourist attraction, Goethe saying that he was ugly enough not to need a mask.

Middle East

Golden masks excavated from the Kalmakareh Cave in Lorestan, Iran, first half of the first Millennium BC, National Museum of Iran

In Ancient Rome, the word persona meant 'a mask'; it also referred to an individual who had full Roman citizenship. A citizen could demonstrate his or her lineage through imagines – death masks of ancestors. These were wax casts kept in a lararium (the family shrine). Rites of passage, such as initiation of young members of the family or funerals,

[]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask/#cite_note-18) Masks have been created with plastic surgery for mutilated soldiers.