Description
Across cultures and throughout history, the human skull and skeleton have served as powerful symbols in art and visual culture. This lecture explores how different societies have represented the bones of the human body and the diverse meanings they convey, from death and mortality to spirituality, remembrance, transformation, and celebration. Through examples from a variety of cultural traditions and artistic contexts, we will consider how images of the skull and skeleton reflect beliefs about life, death, the body, and what may lie beyond. Ultimately, the lecture examines why these universal symbols continue to fascinate, inspire, and sometimes even comfort us.
