Why was skull jewellery worn in the Baroque?

For three reasons. Religious and penitential: the skull constantly reminds the wearer of mortality and admonishes them to live in a manner pleasing to God - a central message of the Counter-Reformation and of Calvinist piety. Political and representational: after the death of a monarch or notable, memento mori rings were distributed bearing the deceased's name, the date of death and a skull (see Tudor Mourning and Stuart Bequest Rings, Baroque (c. 1600–1750)). Fashionable and aristocratic: memento mori jewellery was part of an educated aristocratic identity - it signalled a serious attitude to life and a connection to the classical and Christian tradition.

Which memento mori jewellery forms exist?

Several principal forms. The memento mori ring - a gold ring with a skull bezel or an inlaid enamel skull; with a Latin inscription on the inner face ("Memento Mori", "Hodie mihi, cras tibi"). The death pendant - a larger pendant with skull and hourglass (see Hourglass), often with a hinged closure. The funeral ring - the English mourning ring distributed to invited guests at a funeral, often a gold ring with a black enamel skull. The ivory skull - a carved miniature skull in ivory (see Ivory), in a gold mount as a pendant.

Is skull jewellery appropriate today?

In the strict memorial jewellery context - rather unusual. The skull is no longer part of the standard modern Western mourning canon; many contemporary mourners find it too harsh and too confrontational. In a fashion context - very much present. Since the 1990s the skull has enjoyed a revival as a fashion and tattoo symbol. Some mourners choose the skull deliberately as a historical reference to the memento mori tradition - above all in families with a connection to goth, punk or tattoo culture. Anyone seeking memento mori jewellery referring to a particular deceased person can still commission it from specialist workshops today.

Skull (the Memento Mori Death's Head)

The skull is the sharpest and oldest memento mori symbol - a direct iconographic reminder of mortality and transience that became the dominant jewellery form in the Baroque and, after a long bourgeois interval, is present again today in modern memorial and fashion symbolism.

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