Human skull ·  Europe, alpine · ID: 3037694

Description

painted with roses, a cross and the letters “GB”, min. dam.;
the practice of engraving and painting exhumed skulls spread throughout Europe from Brittany to the monasteries on Mt Athos. It is closely associated with the spread of charnel-houses, which originated at monasteries and were taken up by village communities. Well-known centres of this practice are the towns of Faistenau and Gilgenberg in Austria as well as Altötting, Wasserburg on the Inn and Utling in Bavaria.

Comparing literature

Laue, Georg (Hg.), Memento mori, München 2002, p. 87