Memento Mori

Before Joseph Lister's introduction of antisepsis, before Ignaz Semmelweis taught us to wash our hands, before Louis Pasteur's germ theory of disease, life in the filthy cities of Europe was often cut short by infection. Bubonic plague, cholera, typhoid and smallpox were regular visitors. Artists responded to the epidemics with memento mori ("remember that you are mortal"), painted reminders of imminent death, usually incorporating skeletons, cut flowers, timepieces or other symbols of fleeting life. This painting updates the memento mori genre, and includes some of the pathogens that cause infectious disease.