Momento mori

Linked to but not the same as Vanitas is Momento Mori...

'Memento mori is a Latin phrase translated as "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die" or "Remember you will die." It names a genre of artisticcreations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their own mortality. The phrase has a tradition in art that dates back to antiquity.'

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori 05/10/2010)

OK, if I look into Vanitas, then I cannot avoid the term Moment Mori.. The idea of Momento Mori is very similar to that of Vanitas, but I feel it is more literal in it's meaning.

The idea of Vanitas is as in it's translation, in that life is fleeting, and should not be taken frivolously.. Life is transient and is only a brief speck of dust in the midst of time. Momento Mori on the other hand is telling us that life no matter how long, has to end at some time, and should not be wasted.

Perhaps the diference in Vanitas and Momento Mori is one of perspective, in that Vanitas is more about looking at life from the outside, or even looking back on life and placing life into the wider scheme of things .

Momento Mori then can be seen from the point of view of being on the inside looking

out or looking forward to inevitable death perhaps..

Logically if this premise is correct then it can be concluded that Vanitas is about life in general whereas Momento Mori is about one's own (the Artists own) life.... Perhaps not?

Historically, Momento Mori goes back to pre biblical times, with examples of it being found in the art and literature of ancient Greece or Rome. The specific area of vanitas is really one of

the C16..

(Prince of Orange René de Châlons died in 1544, at age 25. His widow commissioned sculptor Ligier Richier to represent him offering his heart to God, set against the painted splendour of his former worldly estate. Church of Saint-Étienne, Bar-le-Duc)