Memento mori

Memento mori (Latin for "remember (that you have) to die")[2] is an artistic symbol or trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death.[2] The concept has its roots in the philosophers of classical antiquity and Christianity, and appeared in funerary art and architecture from the medieval period onwards.

The most common motif is a skull, often accompanied by bones. Often, this alone is enough to evoke the trope, but other motifs include a coffin, hourglass, or wilting flowers to signify the impermanence of life. Often, these would accompany a different central subject within a wider work, such as portraiture; however, the concept includes standalone genres such as the vanitas and Danse Macabre in visual art and cadaver monuments in sculpture.

  1. ^ Campbell, Lorne. Van der Weyden. London: Chaucer Press, 2004. 89. ISBN 1904449247
  2. ^ a b Literally 'remember (that you have) to die', Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition, June 2001.
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