Memento Mori: The Art of Death

When was the last time you saw decorations of skeletons or visual connotations of death? I bet it's probably Halloween. But did you know there is actually a genre of art & literature dedicated to portraying the universality of death?

Disciplini Oratory by Giacomo Borlone (1485) (Image from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Triumph_death_clusone.jpg)

Brief History of Dance Macabre

The term “Danse Macabre” originated from French, which roughly translates to “Macabre Dance” or “Dance of Death”, usually depicting a procession or dance where skeletons or corpses lead the living, signifying that death is inevitable for everyone, regardless of social classes. It was a popular Medieval / Middle Age genre in literature and Visual Arts, 

exploring the transience of life, themes of death, and the morality of human beings. This is also sometimes known as memento mori, which translates to “remember you must die” in English.

You might be wondering: how depressing an artist has to be to come up with such devastating themes to explore? Well, this leads us back to the 14th-15th century when the deadly plague Black Death occured.

The Black Death

The Black Death was a series of plagues in Europe that killed at least 25 million people during the 14th to 15th centuries. The Triumph of Death was one of the great paintings that relate to the Black Death. It was painted in the late Gothic style, a century after the Black Death. Many of the artists during the 14th to 15th centuries were inspired by the plague and used it as a tool to terrify people about the plague, with the intent to redirect panic from the plague and scare people into believing in religion, reminding people of the fragility of life and realising the fortune of living. The genre “Danse Macabre” emerged as a way to cope with the constant fear of death while portraying the inevitability of death.

The Triumph of Death by Bruegel the Elder, Pieter (1563) (Image from https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-triumph-of-death/d3d82b0b-9bf2-4082-ab04-66ed53196ccc)

Bruegel the Elder, Pieter was born in 1525 in Breda (in modern-day Netherlands) and died on 9th September 1596 in Belgium. He was one of the greatest painters of the Northern Renaissance in the 16th century. Influenced by Danse Macabre, his work “The Triumph of Death” uses landscapes to narrate the development of art during the Northern Renaissance period while presenting the chaotic and unruly situation of society during the 16th century, visualizing a snapshot of the messy society at that time.

Close-up of “The Triumph of Death” - Traces of Danse Macabre

Certain symbolisms are prominent within the work that amplifies the idea of “Danse Macabre”. For instance, In the center there is a horse with a skeleton riding on it. The skeleton is holding a scythe, resembling a grim reaper. It looks like it is herding a group of people into a large container that resembles a coffin. This perhaps suggests that death is a fate. We do not have the power to choose when we die, but to accept it when it comes as evidenced by the fact that a sea of people are rushing towards the coffin, which is guarded by the army of skeletons. The existence of skeletons coming to life could also imply the status of Earth right now being “hell-like” and all there was were wars and deaths.

Close-up of “The Triumph of Death” - The Passing of Time

The extinguished candle next to the coffin and the hourglass held by the skeleton next to the king symbolize the passing of time. By depicting the candle extinguished and the hourglass broken, Bruegel suggests that everything will eventually come to an end - The termination of time and the terminal of Earth’s enjoyment.

Religious Influences on Dance Macabre

The Protestant Reformation was a religious reformation movement that happened in Europe during the 1500s, initiated by Martin Luther in 1517. It focused on challenging the authorities of the Catholic Church, and in particular that individual believers should be less dependent on the Church, leading to widespread chaos and conflict in Europe at the time. During the production of “The Triumph of Death”, Bruegel was situated in the Netherlands, which was under the Catholic Spanish rule. Suspected protestants were captured, tortured, and killed, which is evident in the painting - illustrated by the mountains of bodies lying around the floor and even bones in gallows. The chaotic mess in Europe at the time was captured and reflected in Bruegel’s painting. 

The idea of Divine judgement drove the protestant reformation, in which God would evaluate the actions of humans and determine their consequences. The anxiety of death and divine judgement of God amidst religious wars and the Black Death could have motivated artists at the time to depict such a chaotic scene dominated by the inevitability of death

Danse Macabre in Popular Culture

The Skeleton Dance (1929) by Walt Disney (Image from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020414/)

The genre of Danse Macabre is prominent in the development of modern forms of art, such as in films, televisions shows, and even music. One of the most famous examples would be Walt Disney’s short film “The Skeleton Dance” in 1929. However in modern cultures, the secularization of society has led to the loss of its religious, allegorical meaning, alluding to destructive relationships instead of the transitory nature of life.

Nonetheless, Danse Macabre continues to inspire contemporary artists across the world through different forms and mediums known for its long, powerful cultural influence.