{"product_id":"memento-mori-remember-that-i-have-been-as-you-are-and-that-you-shall-become-as-i-am","title":"Memento Mori - Remember that I have been as you are, and that you shall become as I am.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUnknown Artist (\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eSweden, early 20th century)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eMemento Mori\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003einscribed in Swedish: \u003cem\u003e“Tänk på att Jag har varit såsom Du, och att Du skall bliva såsom Jag.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003epencil, charcoal and white heightening on paper\u003cbr\u003eunframed 29.5 × 22.6 cm (11.6 × 8.9 in)\u003cbr\u003eframed 40 × 33 cm (15.7 × 13 in)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInscription\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Tänk på att Jag har varit såsom Du, och att Du skall bliva såsom Jag.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTranslation:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Remember that I have been as you are, and that you shall become as I am.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProvenance\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePrivate collection, Sweden.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEssay:\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eThis drawing belongs to the long European tradition of the memento mori, an image intended to remind the viewer of the inevitability of death and the transience of earthly life. Rather than surrounding the skull with symbolic objects, the unknown artist has reduced the composition to its essential elements: the human skull and a direct written address to the viewer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeneath the skull appears the Swedish inscription: \u003cem\u003e“Tänk på att Jag har varit såsom Du, och att Du skall bliva såsom Jag.”\u003c\/em\u003e In English: \u003cem\u003e“Remember that I have been as you are, and that you shall become as I am.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sentiment has deep roots in European funerary culture. Closely related formulations occur in medieval and later epitaphs in which the dead address the living directly, reminding them that the distinction between viewer and deceased is only temporary. Here, the inscription effectively gives the skull a voice. The anonymous remains cease to be merely an anatomical study and instead address the spectator personally.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis combination makes the drawing considerably more compelling than a conventional study of a skull. It operates simultaneously as an anatomical image and a meditation on mortality. The absence of an identified artist arguably reinforces this effect: the individual identity has disappeared, leaving only the universal human form and its message.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CLASSICARTWORKS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54778442645827,"sku":null,"price":27228.0,"currency_code":"SEK","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0115\/6005\/8976\/files\/B0009248-2.jpg?v=1788168853","url":"https:\/\/www.classicartworks.com\/ar\/products\/memento-mori-remember-that-i-have-been-as-you-are-and-that-you-shall-become-as-i-am","provider":"CLASSICARTWORKS","version":"1.0","type":"link"}