She looks lovely, doesn’t she? Well, if not lovely, certainly fancy. But turn to the next slide, and you’ll get a very different view. This two-sided ivory pendant of an aristocratic woman was carved in the Netherlands around 1500, and perfectly represents a Late Medieval artistic motif called “momento mori,” or “remembrance of death.” In the wake of the Bubonic plague, such renderings became common — they reflect a popular piety of people keenly aware of the closeness and inevitability of death. On the side with the living woman, we see her with a full face and double-chin, wearing a fine necklace with elegant clothing — but these things are no shield against her fate. The Latin inscription around her veil translates her inner sentiments: “Alas! I must die.” On the other side, the woman has decayed into a gruesome skeleton, with worms and vermin consuming her decaying corpse. The Latin inscription on this side means “Behold the end.”
Source(s): These objects are held by English Heritage from the Trustees of the Wernher Foundation, and the images are copyright from the Trustees of the Wernher Foundation as well. See http://blog.english-heritage. “Momento Mori: Let’s Talk about Death,” Michael Carter, 19 October 2018.
