Art of death: the Memento Mori
by Gabriella Sotiriou
The memento mori tradition centres around symbols and motifs designed to inspire in the viewer through thoughts on their mortality. The phrase itself in Latin means,‘reminder of death’ and the images seek to highlight the universality and inescapability of death. The tradition can be traced back to the Roman period, throughout Ancient Egypt and into the Middle Ages where memento mori and ‘danse macabre’ (dance of death) paintings grew as a specific genre, most likely due to the overwhelming devastation that occurred during that time. It continued into the modern period with many artists including motifs such as skulls, clocks, hourglasses and damaged musical instruments in their composition - all reminders of time running out and things coming to an end. However, this ‘reminder of death’ is not supposed to be sinister. Instead the viewer is meant to be inspired and encouraged to consider each day as a gift. Despite this intention, many of the paintings still appear dark, gloomy and mysterious with the notion of death remaining triumphant.
Vincent Van Gogh, Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, 1885, oil on canvas, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Skulls are a dominant feature in these paintings, a brilliant example of this being Vincent Van Gogh’s Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette (1885). This is not the usual tone of painting that comes to mind when thinking of Van Gogh’s work. Normally associated with great swirling landscapes of colour and abstracted portraits, this dark and eerie work breaks away from his typical paintings. The simplicity of the work makes it particularly captivating - the composition consists mostly of sombre shades of ivory, grey and beige making up the bones of the skeleton, which then contrast from the deep black background. The left side of the portrait is lit leaving the right side of the face receding into the blackness, allowing the background itself to be interpreted as the slow creeping of oncoming death. However, in this case the memento mori genre in intertwined with a lightly comedic stance. It is believed that this painting was in fact satirical, being created during Van Gogh’s studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp, Belgium where he underwent a very conservative art education. This included practices surrounding the understanding and documenting human anatomy. Van Gogh’s time at the Academy ended after only a few weeks as he found the experience ‘damned boring’. This painting is understood to be mocking the seriousness of the practise of studying anatomy rather than the act of smoking as it often thought. Van Gogh was an avid smoker himself, possibly an ironic representation of his feeling of being ‘bored to death’ by his fine art education.
Pablo Picasso, Goat’s Skull, Bottle and Candle, 1952, oil on canvas, Tate Modern
This painting by Pablo Picasso called Goat’s Skull, Bottle and Candle, was made in 1952 when the artist created a number of works concerning the Korean War. These paintings, including this one, were made up of a monochromatic colour scheme that alluded to the black and white war photography. As in the Van Gogh painting, the lack of bright contrasting colours gives the scene a sombre atmosphere which the memento mori symbols then emphasise. The skull and the candle are traditional motifs used to remind the viewer of death and in this case, specifically allude to the manslaughter that occurred during the Second World War. Despite this painting being in Picasso’s typical flattened and abstract style, the skull is highly distinguishable against the background. The artist does not shy away from death being present in the foreground of this painting, possibly reflecting Picasso’s determination to make a moral point within his work.
Francis Picabia, Portrait of a Doctor, c. 1935-8, oil on canvas, Tate Britain
Francis Picabia’s Portrait of a Doctor, painted in the mid to late 1930’s is an unusual image. We see a figure in the centre of the composition, that was originally painted as a realistic half portrait of a balding man wearing a white shirt. The figure in the work has been identified as the artist’s friend Dr Raulot-Lapointe. However, Picabia later reworked the canvas, simplifying the elements and also added multiple symbols concerning death and illness. In the foreground of the image are heavy and bold outlines of shapes that are reminiscent of bones or medical instruments. They draw an awareness to the human body in a damaged state. The skull in the lower right hand corner, and the figures gesture, is a symbol that recalls Hamlet’s soliloquy over Yorrick’s skull. The face of the Doctor has also been painted over and now features a marking that alludes to a warning symbol. The painting suggests that illness and doctors are the deliverers of death.
Damien Hirst, For the Love of God, 2007, platinum, diamonds and human teeth
For the Love of God (2007) is one of Damien Hirst’s most recognised works due to its unusual materials. The skull is made up of thirty two platinum plates, covered with over one thousand carats worth of diamonds. The teeth that are placed within the sculptures jaw once belonged to a real human skull. The title, originally stemming from Hirst’s mothers reaction to plans for new works - ‘For the love of god, what are you going to do next!’ - is a reminder of the impermanence of life. In taking a traditional memento mori and covering it in diamonds Hirst disguises death to ‘an extent that it becomes something else’. This work thus draws attention to human kind’s tendency to fear death and the desire to cover it, making it appear as something entirely different. The use of diamond references the glamourising of death. The stone is central to the work as the artist explains that it has the ability to ‘bring out the best and the worst in people…people kill for diamonds. They kill each other’.
The memento mori genre carries a great variation in style, context, and meaning. The symbols presented in these works are used to commemorate and mourn those killed in war, to point out a flawed conservative artistic practice, as a warning against the dangers of disease or to embody the way people cope with a fear of death. The broad time span that is covered in these examples shows that the genre is omnipresent throughout history, suggesting that human kind’s attitudes to death has undergone little change. The memento mori genre, being fuelled by an inescapable theme of death, will certainly sustain the test of time.
Bibliography
‘For the Love of God’ Damien Hisrst. com. http://www.damienhirst.com/for-the-love-of-god [accessed August 3 2019]
Mementon Mori Art Term, Tate. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/memento-mori [accessed August 2 2019]
History of the Memento Mori, Daily Stoic. https://dailystoic.com/history-of-memento-mori/ [accessed August 3 2019]
7 Ways of Looking at the Memento Mori, Art History’s Spookiest - and Most Misunderstood - Genre, Menachem Wecker, Art World, September 14 2017. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/guide-memento-mori-art-historians-1076897 [accessed August 4 2019]
Skull with Burning Cigarette, VGGallery. http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0212.htm [accessed August 3 2019]
Goat’s Skull, Bottle and Candle, Tate. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/picasso-goats-skull-bottle-and-candle-t00145 [accessed August 3 2019]
Portrait of a Doctor, Tate. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/picabia-portrait-of-a-doctor-t05804 [accessed August 3 2019]