Christus aan het kruis met Johannes, de drie Maria's en Maria Magdalena onder het kruis 1550

Pieter Huys rendered this pen drawing, depicting Christ’s crucifixion, sometime in the late 16th century. Here, beneath the towering figure of Christ, the artist groups the mourning figures of John, the three Marys, and Mary Magdalene. Note the skull at the lower right, a vanitas motif, reminding us of our mortality. Skulls have marked the passage of time since ancient times. Consider the memento mori tradition of medieval Europe, where skulls and skeletons served as stark reminders of the inevitability of death. Similarly, in ancient Roman art, skulls symbolized both death and the triumph over it. The persistence of these symbols through time reveals a deep-seated human preoccupation with mortality, a theme that continues to resonate across cultures and epochs. These images tap into a collective unconscious, reflecting our shared anxieties and existential ponderings. The artist has found a powerful means of engaging viewers on a subconscious level, evoking a visceral response to the universal experience of loss. As symbols resurface, they evolve, inviting us to contemplate our relationship with the past and our place in the cyclical progression of life and death.