Spanish school; 17th Century.

Spanish school; 17th century.
"Memento Mori".
Carved and polychrome wood.
It has faults.
Measurements: 20 x 30 x 25 cm.
The synthetism of this work carved in wood indicates that it was probably originally part of a larger sculptural ensemble. The work is reduced to the representation of a book as a base and on its spine a feather and a skull. These few elements create an ensemble of great visual impact and evocation, as the author not only alludes to the concept of death, but also to that of history and, in turn, to the idea of memory.
The author manages to create a great impact on the spectator by combining the presence of an infant with that of the skull that represents death. Thus showing a sculpture in which the concept of life and death are united without being aware of it, and how danger lurks from the earliest childhood. This sculpture is part of the genre of vanities, which was so important to him. The transience of life was one of the themes that most preoccupied Baroque artists. Vanities denounced the relativity of knowledge and the vanity of the human race subject to the passage of time and death. Its title and conception are related to a passage from Ecclesiastes: "vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas" ("vanity of vanities, all is vanity").