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memento mori
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artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death
"Memento mori" is an artistic or symbolic reminder that death is inevitable for all people. It matters because throughout history, people have used these reminders—whether through art, objects, or practices—to reflect on the meaning of life and how they want to live.
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Encyclopedic overview
The outer panels of Rogier van der Weyden's Braque Triptych (c. 1452) show the skull of the patron displayed on the inner panels. The bones rest on a brick, a symbol of his former industry and achievement. Memento mori. Gravestone inscription (1746). Edinburgh, St. Cuthbert's Churchyard.
Memento mori (Latin for "remember [that you have] to die") is an artistic symbol or trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death. The concept has its roots in the philosophers of classical antiquity and Christianity, and appeared in funerary art and architecture from the medieval period onwards.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “memento mori” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.