Skull Wearing a Wreath of Flowers c. 1874

Curator: The stark contrast between the skull and the delicate floral wreath immediately strikes me. Editor: Indeed. Thomas Satterwhite Noble painted this haunting work, "Skull Wearing a Wreath of Flowers," and its date remains unknown. It hangs in the Harvard Art Museums. Curator: The skull itself, a universal symbol of mortality, is softened, almost romanticized, by the wreath. It speaks to the cyclical nature of life and death, doesn't it? To ideas of memory as an active force against oblivion. Editor: Quite so. Flowers are potent symbols of beauty, fragility, and transient joy. Juxtaposing them with a skull, a memento mori, creates a powerful tension, suggesting that even in death, echoes of life persist. Curator: Ultimately, it reminds us to confront our own mortality, yet to find beauty and meaning in the present. Editor: A poignant reminder, rendered with surprising tenderness.