Skull
The most direct memento mori symbol — a human skull placed within a portrait or still life to signal mortality, penitence, or scholarly contemplation of death.
A skull resting on a table, held by a saint, or tucked into the shadows of a portrait is rarely decorative. It is a deliberate memento mori device, telling the viewer that the sitter — however prosperous or pious — is not exempt from death.
The symbol shows up across very different contexts: in penitent-saint paintings (Jerome, Mary Magdalene) it signals renunciation of worldly life; in vanitas still lifes it argues against vanity; in scholar portraits it can suggest a life spent contemplating mortality rather than fearing it.
Skull in the collection
Paintings in the catalog documented as featuring this symbol.
