Science Source Stock Photo - Memento Mori, Skull Clock

Memento Mori, Skull Clock

Description: A memento mori (remember that you will die) is an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. The expression, memento mori, developed with the growth of Christianity, which emphasized Heaven, Hell, and salvation of the soul in the afterlife. Timepieces were an apt reminder that your time on Earth grows shorter with each passing minute. Old striking clocks often sported automata who would appear and strike the hour; some of the celebrated automaton clocks from Augsburg, Germany, had Death striking the hour. Private people carried smaller reminders of their own mortality. Mary, Queen of Scots, owned a large watch carved in the form of a silver skull, embellished with the lines of Horace.

Credit:

New York Public Library/Science Source

Unique identifier: SS2612646

Legacy Identifier: JA4945

Type: Image

Size: 4200px × 3290px (~39 MB)

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