Death mask with eyebrows

One of the most special pieces in the collection is Bilderdijk's death mask. After his death in 1831 and at the initiative of the Bilderdijk admirer Jan Wap, the Amsterdam sculptor Antonio Boggia came to Haarlem to make a plaster cast of Bilderdijk's face. When the plaster was removed, parts of Bilderdijk's eyebrows were accidentally pulled out; remains of it can still be seen in the plaster.

Five casts of the death mask were made especially for Bilderdijk enthusiasts. Death masks made of wax were not unusual in itself. For example, in the decades before Bilderdijk’s death, death masks had been made of Schiller, Napoleon and Beethoven. But for the Netherlands, Bilderdijk's death mask was unique: as far as we know, it was the first time this happened in this country. The House of Orange would only follow in 1849, after the death of King William II.