Morbid Curiosities

“What cannot be said will be wept.” - sappho

[morbocurio]

The Madonna and Child

c. 1490, France

Approx. 10 x 7″ woodcut print depicting the Madonna and Child within a rosary. hand-coloured in red, brown and green. 

Not on view, part of the Rosenwald Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, USA

[morbocurio]

Memorial Jewellery with Portrait Miniature 

c. 1789, England

The front of this sentimental piece of mourning jewellery commemorates the life of ‘Edward Cary Johnston - Died February 20 1789 - Aged Two Years and Three Quarters’. The watercolour portrait features the angelically-styled infant standing before a cloudy backdrop, gazing upward and gesturing prayer-like. 

On the reverse, a curled lock of hair fastened with a bow made of miniature pearls sits upon an ivory plaque and within a woven belt frame made from braided hair.

from the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum

[morbocurio]

Christ Crowned with Thorns

c. 1460-1480, Germany

Medieval metalcut print by the Master of the Aachen Madonna, hand-coloured in green, light rose, and yellow.

Not on view, part of the Rosenwald Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, USA

[morbocurio]

Diagrams from the Kalendarium of John Somer

c. Early 16th Century, England

Full-page diagrams of a Zodiac Man in brown and black ink, the palm of a hand with symbols in red, blue and brown, and a table of eclipse diagrams in red, brown, blue and yellow.

The binding of this particular manuscript dates from the Early 16th Century, and it’s contents may be the earliest surviving copy of the Kalendarium, printed by Jac. Kobel, Oppenheym, 1518.

[morbocurio]

Memento Mori Fede ring

c. mid-16th century, Europe

A gold and enamelled ring, engraved and set with jewels. Figure groups on shoulders of the bezel represent a Fall from Grace and the Expulsion from Eden, and the back of the hoop is in the form of hands clasping heart. The bezel and cover are in the form of a clasped book with a white skull between four stones(sapphire, ruby, emerald and diamond), two green toads and two snakes. Inside the book is a white recumbent figure upon green ground, with a skull and an hour-glass beside them, the cover underside of the cover features a black-letter inscription. 

blackletter Inscription:

SIVE VIVIM, SIVE/MORIMVR DOMI/NI SVM, COMMEN/DA DOMINO.VIAM/TVAM.ET.SRERA/IN.EVM.ET.IPSE/FACIET

(“For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord” (Romans, xiv. 8)

From the British Museum’s collection

[morbocurio]

Ebony and Silver Casket 

c. late 16th/early 17th Century

Made between 1590-1632, eight silver and gilt panels and cartouches adorn this casket. Four oblongs representing the Seasons, alternating with four ovals for the Elements. On the front: Spring between Water and Fire, symbolised by Neptune and Jupiter with thunderbolt; on the back: Summer between Air and Earth, represented by two female figures

On the lid of this ornate casket is the reclining figure of a female holding a mirror with a snake wound around the handle, a young boy is seated on a skull at her feet, his right hand once held a now lost medal of Henri IV and Marie de Medici.

displayed as part of the British Museum collection

[morbocurio]

Death and the Miser by Hieronymus Bosch 

This panel depicts the final moments of a miser, a hoarder of wealth and greed. Death is entering the bedchamber holding an arrow, while from beneath the bed-curtains a creature offers to the miser a bag of gold. An angel at the mans side implores him to look at the image of Christ on the cross up in the window, while a demon perches atop the bed canopy with a lantern of flames.

In the middle of the panel is a figure that may be a manifestation of the miser’s slightly younger self, clutching a rosary, yet still storing golden coins in a bag held by a rat-like demonic creature within a chest. Beneath the chest is another demon, holding out a paper sealed with red wax. 

At the fore and the bottom of the scene, we see the discarded or broken remains of armor - perhaps the sealed letter is confirmation of the miser’s mercenary work. The panel almost certainly belonged to a set that would have clarified the meaning of these items, but these are now lost. 

from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

[morbocurio]

Coat of Arms with a Skull, Engraving by Albrecht Dürer

The noble woman in this engraving appears to be in wedding garb, the man behind her is a wild man, a medieval figure similar to a faun or satyr. The position of the skull on the shield matches that of the woman's head.

housed but not on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[deathandmysticism]

Holbein’s dagger sheath by Christian von Mechel, 18th century

[morbocurio]

Lithograph of Durga Slaying Mahishasura

Lithograph and watercolour print that shows the Hindu goddess Durga riding a white lion and slaying the buffalo demon Mahishasura beneath a Torana, a sacred ornamental gateway, in the presence of other deities.

from the Wellcome Library’s closed stores

[morbocurio]

The Lycurgus Cup

c. 4th Century, Rome

This cup is the most fully intact example of ancient dichroic glass, which changes colour under different lighting conditions. The green of the Lycurgus cup becomes a glowing translucent red colour when lit from behind, achieved by the dispersal of gold and silver particles within the glass matrix.

The cup depicts a scene from the myths of Lycurgus, a violent Thracian king who banned the cult of Dionysus. Lycurgus is entrapped in a tangle of vines, while Dionysus, Pan, and a satyr torment him.

from the British Museum collection

[morbocurio]

Mourning Ring 

c. 1679, England

Made from gold and enamel, the design on the outside consists of a skeleton, crossbones, wings, and an hourglass. The inscription reads;

In mem. J.W.Arch. Roch. obt 11 June 79 (In memory of J.W Archdeacon of Rochester. Died 11th June 1679)

Currently held and displayed at The British Museum  

[morbocurio]

Figure of Death attributed to Hans Leinberger

c. 1520-30, Germany

Originating from Germany sometime during the 1520′s, and attributed to the sculptor Hans Leinberger. This boxwood carving depicts Death as a skeleton, clothed in the tattering remains of it’s flesh. The pose is an intended imitation of Adam in Albrecht Dürer's engraving of Adam and Eve. Death is holding a scroll that has written upon it;

SVM QVOD ERIS FUI Q’D ES HOC E E’N OIS HOMO ECCLE; (I am what you will be. I was what you are: For every man is this so.)

Housed at The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

[morbocurio]

Death of the Virgin by Hans Holbein the Elder

c. 1490, Germany

In this oil painting from 1491, the apostles are gathered around Mary’s bedside and are attending to her funerary rites. Above the scene is Jesus, who is beckoning his mother to join him in heaven. 

This painting is kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest

[morbocurio]

Architectonic Reliquary of the Martyr, Saint Donatus

c. 14th Century, Hungary

Originating from the Prozony Abbey in Hungary, this silver-gilt and glass reliquary holds a bone relic of St Donatus of Arezzo. Stories of Donatus include him performing such miracles as; bringing the dead back to life, slaying a dragon which had poisoned a well, bringing sight back to the blind, and exorcising demons. He was arrested, imprisoned and beheaded around the year 361, during the rule of Julian the Apostate.

Held at the São Roque Museum, Lisbon.

[morbocurio]

Illuminations from the Chansonnier de Zeghere van Male

c. 16th Century, Western European

Ornately illuminated with initials and miniatures that have little relevance to the music, the Chansonnier is a manuscript of songs collected in 1542 by the bourgeois Zeghere Van Male of Bruges. The book includes around 80 pieces of music written by 25 composers. It is especially noteworthy for its range of genre and what it reveals of the tastes of the upper middle class of the early to mid 16th century.

The book is held in the Municipal Library at Cambrai

PDF of the book can be found at the IMSLP 

[morbocurio]

Silk Memorial Embroidery on Linen 

c. 1836

An embroidered piece of linen done in silk featuring a floral wreath, vine borders, and a morning glory in each corner. The inscription includes;

By Mary's hands this wreath was wrought Then very distant was the thought Its center would so soon disclose Her Epitaph: her Parents woes    She's gone her mortal race has run    Great God: thy will not ours be done

In storage at the Cooper Hewitt Collection of the Smithsonian Design Museum