Master Paintings Part II
Master Paintings Part II
German School, 18th century
A memento mori with a skeleton, a snake, and an apple
Lot Closed
January 30, 04:29 PM GMT
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
German School, 18th century
A memento mori with a skeleton, a snake, and an apple
inscribed in Latin upper right: Non terrori, verum /Lætitiæ, Solam Spem / in DEO habenti, fu-/tura sum; further inscribed in old German script: Ich will demjenigen, der seine / Hoffnung auf Gott alleine / setztet, kein Schrecken sondern Freude? zurufen
oil on canvas
canvas: 23 7/8 by 19 1/2 in.; 60.5 by 49.5 cm.
framed: 30 1/2 by 26 in.; 77.5 by 66 cm.
This memento mori, which means "remember you must die," is also filled with symbols alluding to original sin. Before the skeleton draped in a grey hood is a half eaten apple and a colorful serpent wraps itself around the skeleton and winds through the dark and dramatic scene. In the background at upper right are two inscriptions, the first in Latin and the second in German. The German loosely translates as: I want to shout joy, not horror, to those who hope in God alone.