Mementos of the Dead - (Page 4 of 4)

When someone we know has died we can feel very strongly about keeping mementos that show them (such as photos), or were owned and used by them (like jewellery or furniture).

Such mementos can help us to feel that a part of the person who has died is still with us. Up until quite recently it was entirely usual for artists to be commissioned to create objects or pictures as mementos of a dearly departed. The Funeral Spoon was not meant to be used for eating with, but was an ornament made especially for the parents of a dead child to remember them by.

The artist Lucas Horenbout created the tiny portrait of Hans Holbein to remember Holbein by, who was his teacher and famous artist.