Changing Face: Masks from the British Museum Through the ten masks featured in this web exhibit, you'll learn how they were used for amusement, deception or protection - masks transform the wearer by providing a new appearance. The art works include masks worn by the living; masks worn by the dead in order to render them divine; masks that were used for entertainment and others that played a fundamental role in ritual. There is a mask that gave animal-like qualities to human beings and another which gave human qualities to vegetables. The death mask was never meant to be worn at all. Take this fascinating tour.