The winged death’s head is a common motif on gravestones and art from the 17th-18th centuries, representing memento mori and the inevitability of death. It can be crude or sophisticated, with varying meanings such as the soul’s flight or regeneration. Puritans used it due to their dislike of religious imagery, while in the 19th century it was popular for its macabre nature. It can also be found in paintings and parodies, symbolizing time and regeneration.
A winged death’s head is a motif commonly found on gravestones, especially those dating from around the 17th and 18th centuries. This motif also appears in some works of art, both as a central element and as an accent element. The meaning of the winged death’s head is variable, depending on the context, but it is safe to assume that it is meant to be a memento mori, reminding the viewer of the inevitability of death.
The crudest winged death’s heads are simply skulls with empty eye sockets and grinning teeth, with wings carved into either side of the skull. In some cases, the crossbones may support the skull. More sophisticated versions feature skulls with more detail or heads with more flesh. In some cases, the head may be mounted on a pile of bones or a bag that clearly contains human remains. The wings can be large or small, decorated with fine or very simple details, all depending on the creator’s taste.
For some people, the winged death’s head is simply a reminder of how fast death can approach, with the added message that time flies. It can also represent the idea of the soul’s flight, especially when carved into a tombstone, with wings implying a passage to heaven. Others think of the symbol as a visual representation of the death of the body accompanied by regeneration of the spirit, suggesting that the soul survives even after the body is gone.
Such motifs are very common on Puritan tombs, because the Puritans disliked visual representations of religious themes such as crosses, angels, and saints. As late as the 19th century, people simply had a taste for the macabre in grave decoration, which explains why giant death angels are seen looming over graves in older cemeteries. The winged death’s head would have served as a simple and eloquent reminder of death’s presence.
In works of art such as paintings, the winged death’s head can be incorporated into a larger allegorical story unfolding on the canvas. Some artists have also included new takes or parodies of the theme, such as animal death heads or entire winged skeletons. While these themes may seem a bit dark and intense to modern viewers, death was a common and accepted theme in art throughout the 19th century, and as well as being used to represent literal death, death also symbolized time, regeneration and a variety of other topics.
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