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To This Favour by William Michael Harnett, 1879
Memento Mori: Art to Help You Meditate on
Death and Become a Better Man
by Brett & Kate McKay on October 29, 2012 · 55 comments
in A Man's Life
In case you’ve
forgotten, Halloween is
this Wednesday. With all
the ghosts and goblins
decorating homes these
days, I figured it’s a
great time to talk about
one of my favorite
genres of art: memento
mori.
Memento mori is Latin
for “Remember death.”
The phrase is believed
to originate from an
ancient Roman t radition
in which a servant would
be tasked with standing
behind a victorious
general as he paraded
though town. As the general basked in the glory of the cheering crowds, the servant would
whisper in the general’s ear: “Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento! Memento mori!” = “Look
behind you! Remember that you are but a man! Remember that you will die!”
Memento mori. Remember that you will die.
Us moderns don’t like to think too much about death. It’s a bit too depressing and morbid for our

popes, peasants, and children
— are invited by jovial
skeletons to follow them in a
dance to the grave. Dance of
Death art (and it also took the
form of plays and poems),
grew out of the grim horrors of
the 14th century: famine, the
Hundred Years War, and,
Memento mori woodcut by Alexander Mair, 1605
Hundred Years War, and,
most of all, the Black Death.
The latter starkly
demonstrated the way in
which death united all,
felling the population
without the f aint est regard
for age or rank.
Some Dance of
Death paintings are rather
morbid, graphic, and
downright creepy. Whether
or not it gives you t he
heebee jeebees, there’s no
denying its powerful
reminder that we’ll all have
to pay the fiddler once our
mortal hoedown is through.
Vanitas Vanitatum
Omnia Vanitas

passeth away,
Saint Jerome by Albrecht Dürer, 1521
and another generation
Morieris by Hans Memling, 1483
and another generation
cometh: but the earth
abideth for ever.
5
The sun also ariseth,
and the sun goeth down,
and hasteth to his place
where he arose.
6
The wind goeth toward
the south, and turneth
about unto the north; it
whirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth
again according to his
circuits.
7
All the rivers run into the
sea; yet the sea is not full;
unto the place from
whence the rivers come,
thither they return again.
8
All things are full of
labour; man cannot utter it:
the eye is not satisfied

Common symbols in vanitas art
include the skull (representing the
certainty of death); bubbles
(representing t he brevity and
fragility of life and earthly glory);
smoke, hourglasses, and watches
(every minute t hat passes brings
you closer to death); rotting fruit
and flowers (represent ing the
fragility and decay of earthly
Memento Mori by Jan Saenredam, late 16th century
fragility and decay of earthly
things); musical instruments
and music sheets
(representing t he ephemeral
nature of life); torn or loose
books (representing earthly
knowledge); and dice and
playing cards (represent ing
the role that chance and
fortune play in life).
The purpose of vanitas art is
moral instruction. It’s to
remind the viewer that life is
precious, so they better not
waste it on frivolous and
meaningless things.
I know death isn’t the most
pleasant thing to think
about, but today I challenge

Man’s Treasure Box
Young Man Holding a Skull by Frans Hals, 1626.
Unnamed illustration by Andreas Vesalius, 1543. Vesalius is
considered the f ounder of modern anatomy and published the f irst
comprehensive anatomy book of the modern era: “De humani corporis
fabrica.” T his illustration is an obvious play on memento mori motif s.
It’s actually kind of meta. Death mediating on death.
The Dance of Death by Michael Wolgemut, 1493
Dance of Death by Emmanuel Büchel, 1773
Death as a cutthroat by Alf red Rethel, 1851. Rethel was inspired by an
account of how an outbreak of cholera ravaged a masquerade during the
Carnival of Paris in 1832.
Dance of Death. Hans Holbein the Younger, 1523- 1526. T his woodcut is part
of a series Holbein did on the Dance of Death theme.
Unnamed illustration by unknown author, 1488. This image (and the 3 below)
comes f rom a series of late 15th century woodcuts based on the Dance of
Death theme. The book that contained these woodcut images was entitled
Heidelberger Totentanz. Scholars believe it was the f irst collection of art
dedicated solely to the Dance of Death theme.
This appears to be a king accompanied by a trombone-playing skeleton.
Sadly, as people in antiquity knew all too well, even children sometimes can’t
escape the dance with death.
Lif e is of ten a game of chance. Fortunes come and f ortunes go. But we all
have to cash out and head to the big casino in the sky.
Heidelberger Bilderkatechismus, 1455. This is possibly one of the
earliest depictions of the Dance of Death. T hat king kind of looks
happy to be hanging out with Death. But I guess if the Grim Reaper
had to come, at least he came playing the drums.
The 13th century legend of the T hree Living and the Three Dead was a
popular theme of murals and f rescoes. In the legend, three gentlemen or