Last chance: memento mori images created with animal skulls

22.05.2021
Last chance: memento mori images created with animal skulls
The age of extinction


In the Tradition: Memento Exstingui, a project by the photographer Michele Turriani, draws attention to the plight of endangered animals that appear on the IUCN red list. It is inspired by the ‘memento mori’ and ‘vanitas’ art genres, which remind us of the transience of life and the inevitability of death. The skulls come from the Powell-Cotton Museum in Kent


Black Rhino

The flower arrangement signifies transience, while the yuan banknotes allude to the illegal trade of rhino horn for Chinese traditional medicine. The hand-mirror represents the vanity of these anthropocentric pursuits, while the ship’s clock has the dual meaning of seaborne trade and the urgent need to protect the world’s black rhinos


Black Rhino skull with flowers

Chimpanzee

The chimpanzee’s skull sits at the centre of the portrait, surrounded by tulips whose petals are already beginning to fall, symbolising transience, as does the broken light bulb. The book represents the vanity of human knowledge and culture


Chimpanzee skull and tulips

Chimpanzees

This image is a direct reference to a painting by the 17th-century Dutch artist Aelbert Jansz. van der Schoor. In the original the skulls are human, their number suggesting the impersonal nature of death. Here, Turriani says, ‘the multiplicity and arrangement of the chimpanzee skulls alerts us to the scale of the destruction of our closest relative’


Chimpanzee skulls


Dama Gazelle

The skull of the dama gazelle – a critically endangered species confined to west and central Africa – is almost hidden by the tulips and roses, signifying its precarious status on the brink of extinction. The chess pieces symbolise the vanity of human pursuits


dama gazelle skull and flowers


Drill

The skull and femurs of the drill – a west African relative of baboons and mandrills, and one of the world’s most endangered primates – are placed starkly in the foreground of the image. The plain composition accentuates the contrast between them and the colourful orchids and delicate glassware


Skull and femurs of a drill with orchids


Lowland Gorilla with Chess Pieces and Dice

Turriani describes this image as ‘an exuberant composition overflowing with symbolic objects’. Some flowers are in full bloom, others are showing signs of decay, while the dice represent the role of chance in the world. The gorilla skull again reminds us of ourselves


Gorilla skull with chess pieces and dice


Lowland Gorilla with Mr Punch Collection

The disfigured skull of this female gorilla is a reminder that many museum specimens were obtained through violence – in this case blows had sliced off parts of the animal’s skull and teeth. This contrasts with a beautifully bound volume of John Leech’s Pictures of Life & Character: from the Collection of ‘Mr Punch’ , a treasure trove of Victorian wit. The explorer Maj Percy Powell-Cotton, founder of the eponymous museum, only survived a lion attack thanks to a rolled-up copy of Punch magazine in his pocket


Gorilla skull and flowers


Northern White Rhino

Down to the last two females, the northern white rhinoceros is now functionally extinct, while its southern counterpart clings on despite widespread poaching for its valuable horn. Memento mori paintings often feature writing on a paper scroll, reinforcing the symbolic message of the other elements of the image. As Turriani explains: ‘I am interested in the contrast between the glimpses of domesticity offered by the small ads in the piece of newspaper used to wrap the skull, and the unfamiliar otherness of the skull itself’


white rhino skull with flowers


Okapi

The giraffe’s closest relative, and not known to the western world until the early 20th century, the okapi is an elusive forest species native to central Africa. The skull is presented in the classic memento mori style, but with a twist: the old-fashioned electric bell system symbolises the need to raise the alarm as the species slides towards extinction


okapi skull with electric bell


Orangutan with Bible

The top of the skull of this Asian ape has been roughly sawn off to remove the brain. This is a more recent specimen, having been donated to the museum for educational purposes after being seized by customs officials


orangutan skull and bible


Tiger

Showing its long, curved canine teeth, the tiger skull rests on a ledger stuffed with Chinese banknotes, symbolising trade and profit. The message is that time is of the essence: one candle is already spent, while the other has fallen over and been prematurely extinguished


tiger skull with flowers and yuan


Walia Ibex with Tulips

Confined to the highlands of Ethiopia, only 585 adults of this species, also known as the Abyssinian ibex, remain. Its horns have been removed and are juxtaposed with the tulips. Memento Exstingui will be on show at Taylor-Jones & Son gallery in Deal, Kent, from 26 June-16 July


Ibex skull with tulips


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition | The Guardian


Last chance: memento mori images created with animal skulls
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