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WALKING TOURS OF ROME

Images of Death in Roman Churches

1/1/2019

 
Funerary monument to Bishop Georgius Meisellius, 1710, Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Funerary monument to Bishop Georgius Meisellius, 1710, Santa Maria dell' Anima

In the 17th century funerary monuments in Roman churches began to incorporate explicit images of death. This often took the form of nothing more than a skull, but in some cases death was fully personified, commonly in the shape of the Grim Reaper, with, or without, his hourglass and/or scythe. 

Such an image is known as a memento mori (remember you must die), a reminder to us all of the inevitability of death. 

A good example can be found in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. The funerary monument of the Roman architect Giovanni Battista Gisleni (1600-72) is made up of his portrait inscribed 'NEQUE HIC VIVUS'. Underneath are two medallions; one of a chrysalis inscribed 'IN NIDULO MEO MORIAR; the other of an emerging butterfly inscribed UT PHOENIX MULTIPLICATO DIES. While below is a skeleton wrapped in a white winding-sheet and the inscription 'NEQUE ILLIC MORTVVS'.  

Funerary monument to Mariano Pietro Vecchiarelli, San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome
Funerary monument to Mariano Pietro Vecchiarelli, San Pietro in Vincoli
Funerary monument to Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini, San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome
Funerary monument to Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini, San Pietro in Vincoli
Funerary monument to G. B. Gisleni, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Funerary monument of G. B. Gisleni, Santa Maria del Popolo
Funerary monument to Giovan Battista Gisleni, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Funerary monument to Giovan Battista Gisleni, Santa Maria del Popolo
Funerary monument to Camillo del Corno by Domenico Guidi, church of Gesù e Maria, Rome
Funerary monument to Camillo del Corno, church of Gesù e Maria
Funerary monument to Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali, church of Sant' Agostino, Rome
Funerary monument to Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali, Sant' Agostino
Funerary monuments, Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini, church of San Francesco a Ripa, Rome
Rospigliosi-Pallavicini Chapel, San Francesco a Ripa
Funerary monuments, Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini, church of San Francesco a Ripa, Rome
Rospigliosi-Pallavicini Chapel, San Francesco a Ripa
Funerary monument of Pope Urban VIII, St Peter's Basilica, Rome
Funerary monument of Pope Urban VIII, St Peter's Basilica
Funerary monument of Pope Alexander VII, St Peter's Basilica, Rome
Funerary monument of Pope Alexander VII, St Peter's Basilica

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    Walking Tours For Discerning Travellers

    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private and
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  • Home
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      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
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      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
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      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
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    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
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    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
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    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
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    • St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Gallery
    • Piazzas >
      • Piazza del Campidglio
      • Piazza del Quirinale
      • Piazza del Popolo
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      • Piazza Navona
      • Piazza S. M. in Trastevere
      • Piazza San Pietro
    • Mosaics
    • Fountains
    • Churches
    • Ancient Rome
    • Palaces
    • Domes
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
    • Old Photographs
    • Borromini & the Baroque
  • Images of the Eternal City