Sculpture, Vanitas - Memento mori - 35 cm - Earthenware

Magnificent terracotta sculpture in the “Memento Mori” style, depicting a skull entwined and pierced by an allegorical serpent. The sculptor’s skilled hand gives movement to a static subject.
Theme: The sculpture represents the vanity of earthly life and reflects the art of dying, known as Ars moriendi.
Origin: Similar terracotta works, often associated with Naples’s artistic production from the 19th century through the late 20th century, range from ecclesiastical to esoteric/alchemical contexts for which the city is famous.
Details: The skull rests on books (an allegory of knowledge) and is accompanied by a small oil lamp (an allegory of truth) and an unusual element: a mathematical pyramid displaying the Fibonacci sequence (an allegory of cosmic order).

A reminder of the impermanence, transience, and vanities of our earthly life. The expression “Memento mori” derives from the Latin phrase “remember that you must die,” a formula from medieval Christianity. Expressing the vanity of earthly life, it refers to the “art of dying,” or Ars moriendi. It encourages an ethic of detachment and asceticism. It is related to another Latin expression: “Sic transit gloria mundi” (“Thus passes the glory of the world”).

The piece will be shipped in professional packaging and protected in a wooden crate.