Describing Death

Giovanni Martinelli’s early career as a Florentine painter is relatively unknown. It is documented that he moved to Florence in 1634. Prior to relocating, Martinelli produced Memento Mori (Death Comes to the Dinner Table). This piece has a comparable style to the Florentine painters Filippo Tarchiani and Anastagio Fontebuoni. Memento Mori is displayed in a clear narrative style. Martinelli created a colorful and dramatic scene that was underscored by the hasty arrival of death. Some translations state that Memento Mori means “Remember, you shall die. Here, Martinelli portrays a group of five individuals of varying ages. They appear to be from a wealthy stock. They wear expensive clothing and are seen at a dinner table partaking in a party of sorts. They are gallivanting around a table that is filled with an abundant collection of exotic fruits, pies, and pastries. Along with the food, Martinelli painted various wine glasses that appear to be hand-crafted and of the highest fashion. Giovanni used bright, shiny silken wear with colors ranging from yellow, to peach, to blue.

The colors complement each figure, adding to their personality and desire for greed. These wealthy-looking people appear—almost instantaneously—to be in a rigid state of duress. On the far right side of the painting, we see, in dark shades, the resemblance of a skeleton holding up an hourglass, as if to say, “cheers. ” This one-time jovial band of feasters is seen reacting to the new character intruding on their high-standing party. The faces offer gestures of utter shock and dismay.

All the focus shifts from their colorful mealtime festivities to this arch nemesis, and back again. The skeletal metaphor of death leans into one man’s shoulder. This man closest to death is in the act of clutching his heart. His eyes dilate toward the figure of death and his mouth, just slightly ajar, appears to be ready to cave open in utter horror. He, however, is too dumbfounded by this apparent figure of death’s close proximity to do anything but freeze in horror. ANALYSIS OF MEMENTO MORI There are two men at the rear end of the table, furthest from death.

They are also horrified. One man is seen posturing with arms wide-open, even though his is furthest from death. He is attempting to back away; yet, at the same time, he is powerless and unable to leave the empty gaze of death’s vision; for running will do no good to the mortal man, regardless if he led a life of sin-hood or martyrdom. Morals were almost epidemic in Martinelli’s fresco works. Memento Mori is another classic story-telling scene with moralistic intent. The era of this 17th century creation occurred at a time when plague was a hearty, healthy killer.

The deathful onslaught of plague, in all its pestilence, came to towns without warning. It attacked the poor and wealthy alike, caring little for a person’s status in regards to wealth, politics, or religion. To create the moral fabric surrounding the powers of death through plague, Martinelli displayed deep imagery between the youthful party-goers who were enjoying their food and intoxicating drinks. He contrasts these free-willing, wealthy individuals with the ghastly—even chilling—reality of death. He does so by casting death’s chin over one man’s shoulder.

This imagery adds power and personality to the fresco. Martinelli displays the image of death coming to this gathering alone and without emotion or guile. The lone figure of death is shown to uproot the lives of this group of healthy, stress-free people—startling the living daylights out of everyone, young and old. MODERN-DAY IRONY Today, some four-hundred years after Giovanni Martinelli finished his last brush stroke to canvas, we remain as close to the fear of death’s randomness as the 17th century plague-ridden societies were. For 300 years plague hung over the lives of Europeans like an omnipresent cloud,” said Mormando, who is an Italian studies professor at Boston College. This statement, today, holds tremendous weight to our real-world current lifestyle. Today, terrorism, war, suicide bombing, and the like are the molds that cast this same skeletal image at our kitchen table. Terrorism is a specter that comes at us in many forms: anthrax, subway bombs, and suicide hijacker leading to the massive death of September 11, 2001. Just as smallpox left past centuries in a state of despair and real fear, we, today, see how fear forces us to change our reality.

This changing reality holds an ominous likeness to the changes that the banqueters in Momento Mori faced. Martinelli’s plague painting is characteristic 17th century Italian. The horrific tendency of the subject matter never destroyed the utter beauty—even charismatic charm—of the oils that he chose to mix in his representation of terror and deathly destruction. For in his era of epidemics and massive death, hardly a decade passed without plague haunting a town and bringing it to its knees. When this painting was created, there wasn’t anything small about death.

It came in massive, near apocalyptic proportions, decimating generations in the blink of an eye. So, the timing of Martinelli’s piece was right in line with the mood of the generation. This connection further enlivened his work back then. Since we, in the dawn of the 21st century, can relate to massive death and fear through terrorism, war, and civil upheaval around the globe, it also adds empowering imagery to his age-old mastery. The imagery of Memento Mori is further encapsulated by the grave images on these wealthy party-goers’ faces.

The hand-crafted beautiful likeness on the faces of those facing death offers deep-rooted thinking that says: As some of the Italians survived a plague-ridden epidemic, they continued to look-over-their-shoulders awaiting the next surprise visit by the specter of death. It’s rather haunting how this parallels with what terrorism instills upon societies around the planet today. Plague paintings like Martinelli’s, many times, depicted a person pinching their nose to refrain from smelling the horror of death in the air.

Martinelli, however, appeared to glaze over his moral of death and the fear of death by not rendering any people in his paintings to be abhorred by the scent of death. This may further enhance the true lifestyle of the wealthy in the 17th century: they had more than they could fathom. So, was Martinelli a closet optimist? Or was his subliminal imagery set up to leave us with this question: How can the rich continue to ignore the fate of death, and why don’t they seem concerned with finding ways to better humanity instead of bettering their personal property and lavishness?

In closing, we must also consider the element of hope and healing, and why it is not apparent in Memento Mori. We must consider the ‘miasma theory’ and its transmission by way of corrupt air. It’s the complete randomness of plague that Martinelli depicts so well that adds such force to this painting. As we continue to live in corrupt societies, it seems that the fear of death will continue to hang over our shoulders. Terrorism is likened to the countless plagues that washed over communities those many centuries ago. As death and terror come and go, the art of the masters remain untouched.