Memento Mori Jewelry

Memento Mori jewelry was popular during the 16th and 17th centuries. Memento Mori is translated in Latin as “remember you must die” In an age high infant mortality, rampant disease and political conflict, death was common and all around so people needed reminders to live in the moment and cherish every moment of life. Memento jewelry did not necessarily encourage fast living but reminded the departed to live a life of virtue. Memento Mori jewelry also carried religious themselves and biblical passages to remind the wearer of their faith. They were typically made of gold and colored enamel, mainly black. Black was a good backdrop to showcase jewelry going all the back to the Renaissance era. Gold came in the form of trimming with enamel used for miniature statues of skeletons or any other statuesque forms. Memento Mori jewelry was especially popular during mourning periods and gave the living a sense of solace and comfort during times of grief. Themes of death originally was a relic of the dark ages when the bubonic plague ravaged most of Europe. The plague was so bad people felt they were living in the end times. During and after the effects of the plague, morbid art in the form of skeleton murals and other morbid paintings were reflected by artists. This is the first instance of death being translated into art and became an expression of people’s deepest fears and intrigue when it came to the matter of death. Memento Mori jewelry was a throwback to the medieval conept of death at a time when dealing with mortality was common in the 16th and 17th centuries.

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