Why Are Skulls a Reminder to Live?

A skull on a desk, a gravestone, or a painting is easy to recognize. But it has not always meant what it means now. This article explains where the skull came from as a symbol and what artists meant by it.

What does “memento mori” mean?

“Remember that you must die.” It is a reminder of mortality. UNESCO’s museum catalog explains that the Latin phrase means “remember that you are mortal,” and describes a 1698 Dutch painting by Herman Henstenburgh that shows a skull at the center, surrounded by an overturned hourglass, an extinguished candle, and scattered bones. These objects were meant to remind viewers of the fragility of life and the certainty of death.

Where did the skull symbol come from?

From the Middle Ages, not from antiquity. An art-history essay on the skull in Dutch vanitas art says the image of the skull as a symbol of death is medieval in origin and was not used in this sense in antiquity. It appeared with saints meditating or praying, such as Saint Jerome and Mary Magdalene, and later in portraits and still-life paintings.

What is a vanitas painting?

A still life about the shortness of life. My Modern Met explains that vanitas became a popular genre among Dutch painters, beginning in the 16th century around the city of Leiden and continuing in the 17th. Symbols such as hourglasses and clocks represent the passage of time. The Bowdoin College Museum of Art describes a painting by Harmen van Steenwyck in which musical instruments, a sword, and a shield stand for the pleasures and power one can gain on earth, while the skull and hourglass remind us of death and the passing of time.

What was the message meant to be?

Humility, and also courage. A Curationist description of a Rijksmuseum vanitas by Aelbert Jansz. van der Schoor says the skulls reminded viewers to face death courageously and without fear. In the 17th-century Netherlands, UNESCO’s catalog notes, still life painting was not only decoration but also a way to express ideas about wealth, time, and morality, in one of Europe’s richest regions.

Is the skull still a symbol of death?

Yes. My Modern Met says the skull is still the most enduring symbol of death, and that meditations on life and death like these appear around the world, from Mexico to Tibet. For examples in other traditions, see Mexico’s Día de los Muertos and Ossuaries and Bone Churches.

Where can I read more?

See Memento Mori: Why Remembering Death Can Make Life Better, The Grim Reaper and the Dance of Death, and What Gravestones Say.