Among the many treasures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I repeatedly return to Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill (1628) by the Dutch master Pieter Claesz, currently on view as part of Layered Narratives: The Northern Renaissance Gallery. Somber and haunting, the composition depicts a gap-toothed skull, an overturned glass, a writing quill, and an oil lamp whose dying flame evokes the inevitable extinguishing of life. Rendered in muted grays and earthy browns, these humble objects possess an unsettling beauty.
Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill, 1628, oil on wood, Pieter Claesz
A striking example of the European vanitas tradition, the painting embodies the ancient admonition memento mori, “remember that you must die.” Far more than a morbid fascination with death, such works served as solemn reminders of the futility of worldly pursuits, the fleeting nature of earthly pleasures, and the certainty of divine judgment.
As Hallowtide begins, with its ancient associations with death and the departed, the painting seems particularly fitting. Beneath its macabre imagery lies a profound spiritual truth. No wealth, beauty, or worldly achievement can spare us from the grave. Yet to remember death is also to remember how one ought to live. Happy Halloween!
~ By Giovanni di Napoli, October 30th, Feast of Sant’Angelo D’Acri
