Rosary Pendant from Germany, c.1520 CE: this rosary pendant depicts four figures in various stages of decay, with the words "love of the world," "I am going to die," "follow me," and "I am" inscribed in Latin
Graphic depictions of death and decay often appear in Christian artwork from the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. These images were used to underscore the fleeting nature of mortality and to emphasize the importance of seeking spiritual salvation (in the eyes of the Church).
As the V&A Museum explains:
This small ivory carving conveys one of the most profound themes of the late Middle Ages, serving as a memento mori, a reminder of the transitory nature of life and the inevitability of death.
Dating from the late Middle Ages through the seventeenth century, there are many surviving memento mori pendants from rosaries. Frequently double-sided, the pendants are often decorated with a skull on one side and a youthful face on the other. This is a rare example of a pendant showing four figures and no close analogue is known.
The pendant is also described in this publication:
The bead in question, of old German work, is large — two inches in diameter — and consists of four half-figures placed back to back. One is a man in the costume of the time with a cup in his hand, and beneath is inscribed amor mundi ("love of the world").
The next represents the man dying, the mouth open, gasping for breath, and under him is the inscription vado mor ("I am going to die").
The third shows him in a shroud, with staring eyes and swollen tongue; the abdomen is occupied by a hideous head, supposed to signify punishment. Under him is the inscription sequere me ("follow me").
The fourth is a skeleton with an hour-glass, and with worms crawling in and out of the sockets of his eyes. The inscription below is ego sum ("I am").
This artifact was briefly depicted in one of my previous posts, which featured a similar rosary pendant. The same themes are also discussed in my post about the "catacomb saints" of Europe.
Victoria and Albert Museum: Memento Mori Rosary Pendant
Aspects of Death in Art and Epigram: Large Rosary-Bead of Memento Mori Design
Metropolitan Museum of Art: Eternal Ancestors: the Art of the Central African Reliquary
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