memento mori Latin for "remember thy death" used to describe a skull (as a symbol for death) in a work of art ...
The most conspicuous motif of the earlier self-portrait is the "memento mori". The artist presents himself before a sepulchral monument - anticipating his own -flanked by putti; the expression on his face is almost cheerful.
In addition there are shrines, reliquaries, bookcovers, liturgical combs, portable altars, pyxes, holy water buckets and sprinklers,flabella or liturgical fans, rosaries, memento mori, paxes, small figures and groups, ...
The earliest sketches feature two men inside the brothel; a sailor and a medical student (who was often depicted holding either a book or a skull, causing Barr and others to read the painting as a memento mori, a reminder of death).
An object (most commonly a skull) reminding believers of the inevitability of death and the need for penitence. Other symbols of mortality include clocks and candles. A danse macabre with only one pair of dancers is also a known as a memento mori.
These incredible illusions of space, solidity, texture, and light often assume the role of memento mori ("a memento of mortality")—a reminder that life is fleeting and that God is good, but his judgment is stern.
 See also: Painting, Composition, Movement, Renaissance, Sculpture
  
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