Symbols of Death and Memento Mori

Medieval and Renaissance

While the Romans wanted to remind the viewer of his mortality so that he could live a full life, it was Christianity that incorporated a more cautionary note into the concept of memento mori. This more serious tone is linked to the medieval concepts of the “good” and “bad” death. If one found [Page 928]himself unexpectedly on his deathbed, having lived a good and pious life would make the moment of death less frightening, as certainly an exemplary life would ease the passage to salvation. Those whose lives had been less than exemplary might not have time to repent their sins before they died, and thus their salvation would not be assured. Because, as in Roman times, death could strike without warning, the church encouraged the faithful to contemplate their mortality daily so that they would be ready to face death when it came. Representations of rotting and decaying corpses were especially popular, as they were a clear reminder of the fragility of one's corporeal self. Images such as The Three Living and the Three Dead, from the de Lisle Psalter (ca. 1300–1310, British Library), were especially graphic reminders of bodily decay, as the Psalter contrasts the images of three living men with those of three rotting corpses, complete with worms and ragged shrouds. Skeletons and decomposing corpses were also depicted on “cadaver tombs” especially popular in the 14th to 16th centuries. The tomb of Sir Roger Rockley (d. 1534) in Worsborough, England, and the tomb of Jean de LaGrange (1402) in Avignon are typical examples. As in the Psalter, the tombs contrast a representation of the whole body of the individual with that of the decaying corpse.

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