Memento mori. Gravestone inscription (1746)... Memento mori (: 'remember that you have to die') is the medieval Latin Christian theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the and the and pursuits. It is related to the ('The Art of Dying') and similar literature. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife. In art, memento mori are artistic or symbolic reminders of mortality.

In the European Christian art context, 'the expression [.] developed with the growth of Christianity, which emphasized Heaven, Hell, and salvation of the soul in the afterlife'. (15th century fresco). No matter one's station in life, the Dance of Death unites all. 's, where the death of is recounted, introduces the idea that the proper practice of philosophy is 'about nothing else but dying and being dead'. The were particularly prominent in their use of this discipline, and 's letters are full of injunctions to meditate on death. The Stoic told his students that when kissing their child, brother, or friend, they should remind themselves that they are mortal, curbing their pleasure, as do 'those who stand behind men in their triumphs and remind them that they are mortal' Early Christian [ ] The 2nd-century CE Christian writer claimed that during his, a victorious general would have someone (in later versions, a slave) standing behind him, holding a crown over his head and whispering 'Respice post te.

Another design, the 'Memento Mori' (or reminder of death) version, is more like a skull symbol than an anatomical skull. Memento Mori Stacking Ring. Yawman And Erbe Clipboard more.

Hominem te memento' ('Look after you [to the time after your death] and remember you're [only] a man.' Though in modern times this has become a standard trope, in fact, no ancient authors attest to this, and it may have been Christian moralizing rather than an accurate historical report. Europe from the Medieval era to the Victorian era [ ]. Unshrouded skeleton on 's tomb (dated 1693) in, The thought was then utilized in, whose strong emphasis on, Heaven, Hell, and the Salvation of the soul brought death to the forefront of consciousness. Many memento mori works are products of, although there are equivalents in.

In the Christian context, the memento mori acquires a moralizing purpose quite opposed to the (now is the time to drink) theme of Classical antiquity. To the Christian, the prospect of death serves to emphasize the emptiness and fleetingness of earthly pleasures, luxuries, and achievements, and thus also as an invitation to focus one's thoughts on the prospect of the afterlife. A Biblical injunction often associated with the memento mori in this context is In omnibus operibus tuis memorare novissima tua, et in aeternum non peccabis (the 's Latin rendering of, 'in all thy works be mindful of thy last end and thou wilt never sin.' ) This finds ritual expression in the rites of, when ashes are placed upon the worshipers' heads with the words, 'Remember Man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.' French - 16th/17th century, and Death, recalling mortality and the certainty of death () Memento mori was also an important literary theme. Well-known literary meditations on death in English prose include Sir 's and 's. These works were part of a that marked the end of the.

In the late eighteenth century, literary were a common genre; 's and 's Night Thoughts are typical members of the genre. Apart from the genre of and funeral music, there is also a rich tradition of memento mori in the of Europe. Especially those facing the ever-present death during the recurring bubonic plague pandemics from the 1340s onward tried to toughen themselves by anticipating the inevitable in chants, from the simple of the movement to the more refined cloistral or courtly songs.