Sculpture, Memento Mori policroma - 21 cm - Earthenware

Polychrome clay sculpture of a memento mori.
Italy, the 20th century (probably), Italian school.

An important memento mori sculpture in polychrome clay, plausibly dating to the 20th century and linked to the Italian school, conceived as a powerful allegorical still life with strong expressive intensity. The composition is dominated by a human skull, modeled with extreme plastic and chromatic sensitivity: the surface, marked by imperceptible abrasions and tonal variations, suggests the passage of time and endows the work with a profoundly meditative character.

The skull is placed atop ancient volumes, with irregular, worn pages, a clear reference to knowledge, study, and human memory, here understood as values doomed to succumb in the face of the inevitability of death. In the foreground, coins and dice stand out, elements charged with symbolic value. The coins represent wealth, power, and the vanity of material possessions, reduced to mere objects without ultimate efficacy in the confrontation with man's final destiny.

Particularly evocative are the dice, shaped to look as if they’re still caught in the moment of movement, as if they were continuing to roll. This detail introduces a strong narrative tension: the game is not yet over, luck is still at work, recalling the unpredictability of life and the illusion that fate can be governed by fortune, when in reality its outcome is already sealed.

Beside the skull, a mouse appears, a traditional symbol of decomposition, of time that corrodes and of life that insinuates itself into inert matter. The fur treatment is extraordinary, rendered with such refinement that it appears visually soft and fluffy, despite the hardness of the material. The polychromy and the fineness of the modeling confer upon the animal an almost tactile presence, underscoring the realism of the whole.

Overall, the work stands out for its high quality of execution, its rich iconography, and its compositional balance. It is a sculpture of great symbolic power, fully anchored in the Italian tradition of the memento mori, capable of combining technical virtuosity with a deep reflection on the fragility of existence.