Memento mori, Germany beginning XIX century.

Germany beginning XIX century.

Memento Mori for Wunderkammer, pail gilt sculpture oil painting. On the back of the nape the painted exceptional decoration depicting the symbol of Ouroboros. The Ouroboros ( from the Greek οὐροβόρος, where οὐρά, urà, stands for “tail” and the βορός, boròs stands for “biting”, an adjective referring to the snake) is an ancient symbol, originated in Egypt and present in many peoples and in different eras and is the image of a snake biting its tail and swallowing it. This widespread symbolic figure represents, in animal form, the image of the circle that personifies the eternal return, the universal energy that is constantly consumed and renewed, the cyclical nature of things, and symbolize eternal resurrection and life. The eternal return and consequently also the eternity iconographically represented by the circle itself. It has also a strong alchemical and initiatory symbolism. Germany’s early XIX century.

5,5” – 14 CM H 5,2” – 13 CM L 8” – 20 CM D

M5347