Busacca Gallery

Description:

Artist Kim Eric Lilot: A uniquely dramatic hand-fabricated 18 karat yellow gold 'Memento Mori' Skull Pendant with 14kt karat white gold teeth and Platinum/Iridium eye-glass frames that are inlaid(bezel-set) with natural, Blue Sapphire cabochon-cut gemstone lenses. A 20" long 18kt yellow gold Italian chain is included. A chain of different length or design can be provided however this design was chosen because of it's fluid and non-abrasive movement.

Reference:

Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning "Be mindful of death" and may be translated as "Remember that you are mortal," "Remember you will die," "Remember that you must die," or "Remember your death". It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their own mortality.



In ancient Rome, the phrase is said to have been used on the occasions when a Roman general was parading through the streets of Rome during the victory celebration known as a triumph. Standing behind the victorious general was a slave, and he had the task of reminding the general that, though he was up on the peak today, tomorrow was another day. The servant did this by telling the general that he should remember that he was mortal: "Memento mori." It is also possible that the servant said, rather, "Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento!": "Look behind you! Remember that you are but a man!", as noted in Tertullian in his Apologeticus.[1] Another phrase used in such a setting is Sic transit gloria mundi.



The concept, in the art of classical antiquity, was more frequently embodied in the phrase carpe diem, or "seize the day," a phrase most well-known from Horace's ode to Leuconoe[2]. This carries echoes of the admonishment to "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die",