Bembe mask from Congo

3D Model

Bembe Helmet Mask

Democratic Republic of Congo, 19th–mid-20th century. Wood, H. 48 cm. Private collection.

For comparison purposes, see a similar mask from the

High Museum of Art Atlanta:

Masks like this performed during initiation rituals of the alunga association, a powerful men’s organization charged with educating teenage boys and maintaining law and order. As the young men learned the mysteries of the mask through songs, the mask instructed them, “alunga is not a man, but a thing, something from the bush, something from very remote times, something very awe-inspiring. Never profane its mysteries.” This mask has two pairs of eyes, each painted white to indicate spiritual insight…

The 3D model was built using a set of VRT images (Volume Rendering Technique) after post-processing 1,430 CT-scan axial slices.

MG • March 4, 2016