Shield with a Skull
unknown
Basic information
- ID
- С-I-349
- Author
- unknown
- Name
- Shield with a Skull
- Date of creation
- 18th c.
- Country
- Ukraine
- Technique
- carving polychrome
- Material
- wood
- Dimensions (height x width, cm)
- 43.5 x 27
Additionally
- Type
- sculpture
- Genre
- religious
- Provenance
- Industrial City Museum in Lviv
Information about author
Object description
The image of a skull on the shield can be attributed to the symbolic and allegorical range of Baroque art. Similar motifs occurred in religious and memorial art. The forms of the skull are carved in a rather generalised manner, with emphasis on the empty eye sockets and the jaw, which produce a strong emotional effect. The combination of a realistically modelled skull with a decorative, solemn frame creates a tension between the theme of death and the beauty of the arts. The skull, placed in the centre of the shield, serves as a reminder of the transience of human life and the inevitability of death. The image is emphasised as the compositional centre, while the shield’s broken-line frame creates the effect of a ceremonial border. In sacred art, the image of the skull did not serve merely as a decorative element, but was a profound symbol of death and at the same time of the victory of life.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
