![]() ![]() ![]() This leads us to question our contemporary reaction to the artwork – how do we process the skull and concepts of mortality in art today?Īndy Warhol becomes an unlikely entry in the genre of memento mori. The emphasis shifts from faith to science, yet the imagery remains, as does its power – amplified perhaps in that this was painted in an era where grave-robbery for science was well documented. Sometimes called 'Darwin's Bulldog' for his support on evolution and progressive science, Huxley is consciously framed in the memento mori style by Collier. He would have been familiar with human remains and worked to popularise their study from a scientific rather than religious standpoint. ![]() A noted nineteenth-century biologist, he specialised in comparative anatomy and was largely self-taught. We find Huxley in a curated pose of thought, promoted by the skull. Huxley here is the genial man of learning, propped up by an expansive book collection and casually holding a human skull. John Collier (1850–1934) National Portrait Gallery, London Here we experience the powerful emotions at play – the skull is unavoidably a reminder that this was once a person, who, like the sitter, was formerly flushed with warmth and strength. The detailed skull is exquisitely rendered, most probably from life, given the accuracy. In this magnetic and unflinching memento mori he literally faces death. The man is rendered vulnerable by the skull, his mortality, strength and frailty pictured with intensity. He radiates a delicate vitality whilst maintaining a deadly balance to the skull. Broken blood vessels in the nose and flush on the cheeks show us life animating the face. It's startling to compare this to the living head – sunken eye orbits and shadows hide the eyes echoing the skull, whilst loose flesh reveals the bone structure beneath. The skull itself is weathered and toothless, the light gleams softy from an exposed ridge effortlessly marking density and tone in the bone. Hands clutch at the skull with intensity – we see tension and blood flow in the fingers demonstrating force. ![]() Muted tones and dramatic lighting shift the focus directly to the two heads, one living one dead. Master of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (active 1630–1660) Museums Sheffield The brutal and textured depiction defies immediate recognition as being from the seventeenth century in style. Man with a Skull by the Master of the Annunciation to the Shepherds is an extraordinary and sometimes overlooked piece. Memento mori – the inevitability of death in art, literally 'remember death' or 'remember you will die' – is a powerful genre that bloomed intensely in the Middle Ages and beyond. It's worth reflecting that if a skull unsettles us today, the impact in history would have been far more immediate. Lifespans were substantially shorter than ours today, and with limited medical care, death was pressingly brutal. To encounter a skull was to face mortality full force. Thanks to pop culture, disassociation with the viscera of human remains can lessen the shock for us when we see a skull.Ĭonsider though, throughout history, this wasn't always the case. Many of us have seen artworks like this before – yet their impact today is sometimes lost. What is the fascination in art history with portrait sitters holding skulls? Ghoulish, startling and unsettling, artworks across history feature sitters holding a human skull. ![]()
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