There's no character with skull as attribute in antique mythology?

[Ozan]

Hello everyone,

I've been searching for a painting/sculpture of an antique mythology with a character that has a skull as his/her attribute but seems not to be able to find any. I went through alot of sources. Now I'm out of hope.

Is there anyone who could help me with this?

Thank you in advance for your time.

 

[YmirGF]

What? Like with a god? And only Greek or Roman?

The Hindu Kali comes to mind as well as many Inca, Maya and Aztec critters.
Why is it important?

 

[Curious George]

Hello everyone,

I've been searching for a painting/sculpture of an antique mythology with a character that has a skull as his/her attribute but seems not to be able to find any. I went through alot of sources. Now I'm out of hope.

Is there anyone who could help me with this?

Thank you in advance for your time.

Old paintings? Or just old mythology?

 

[Nakosis]

Hello everyone,

I've been searching for a painting/sculpture of an antique mythology with a character that has a skull as his/her attribute but seems not to be able to find any. I went through alot of sources. Now I'm out of hope.

Is there anyone who could help me with this?

Thank you in advance for your time.

Mictlantecuhtli was 6 feet tall and was depicted as a blood-spattered skeleton or a person wearing a toothy skull.Although his head was typically a skull, his eye sockets did contain eyeballs. His headdress was shown decorated with owl feathers and paper banners and he wore a necklace of human eyeballs, while his earspools were made from human bones.

Mictlāntēcutli - Wikipedia

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Mictlantecuhtli was 6 feet tall and was depicted as a blood-spattered skeleton or a person wearing a toothy skull.Although his head was typically a skull, his eye sockets did contain eyeballs. His headdress was shown decorated with owl feathers and paper banners and he wore a necklace of human eyeballs, while his earspools were made from human bones.

View attachment 26249

Mictlāntēcutli - Wikipedia

Oh, I love him. One of my favorite deities.

 

[Ozan]

Doesn't matter, can be a god or minor god, a random character but has to be in classic/antique period. but it's only greek/roman mythology that refers to classic mythology right?

for example,lets look at this painting from rubens, it's from renaissance and has a subject related to classic mythology. As you can also see the skull in this painting, but it's not an antribute of the man, which means you can't recognize the man by just looking at the skull.

So i'm looking for the suitable paintings / sculptures for this matter as i'm working on one and need more inspiration.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Doesn't matter, can be a god or minor god, a random character but has to be in classic/antique period. but it's only greek/roman mythology that refers to classic mythology right?

I have been told that there is reason to believe the skull in classic Greece is a non-religious symbol which represents equality between all people. Sorry I cannot verify that for you, but if true then the symbol is secular overall rather than mythological in that period and part of the world. Its also non-Aristotelian. Aristotle speaks at length on the merits of a stratified society.

 

[Daemon Sophic]

Doesn't matter, can be a god or minor god, a random character but has to be in classic/antique period. but it's only greek/roman mythology that refers to classic mythology right?

for example,lets look at this painting from rubens, it's from renaissance and has a subject related to classic mythology. As you can also see the skull in this painting, but it's not an antribute of the man, which means you can't recognize the man by just looking at the skull.

So i'm looking for the suitable paintings / sculptures for this matter as i'm working on one and need more inspiration.

Dependent upon how loosely you want to use “classical”......post Roman/Greek art usually uses a character with a skull to depict Death himself.

Here Death is one of the 4 Horsemen.

There is also one of my favorites, a painting of a knight, with the devil behind the knight, and Death in the background, watching....

In both “Death rides a pale horse”.


BTW - Welcome to the forum Ozan!

 

[TheresOnlyNow]

Hello everyone,

I've been searching for a painting/sculpture of an antique mythology with a character that has a skull as his/her attribute but seems not to be able to find any. I went through alot of sources. Now I'm out of hope.

Is there anyone who could help me with this?

Thank you in advance for your time.

Try the Aztec god Mictlāntēcutli.

 

[Daemon Sophic]

In the Crucifixion by Fra Angelico, the skull depicted at the base of the cross is supposedly Adam. But there’s no way to know that by looking at it.

 

[Valjean]

Kali wears a necklace of skulls or severed heads.

 

[Ozan]

Dependent upon how loosely you want to use “classical”......post Roman/Greek art usually uses a character with a skull to depict Death himself.

Here Death is one of the 4 Horsemen.

There is also one of my favorites, a painting of a knight, with the devil behind the knight, and Death in the background, watching....

In both “Death rides a pale horse”.


BTW - Welcome to the forum Ozan!

Unfortunately those are more like momento mori works, they contain more symbols that represents death than an attribute for a character.

And thank you, i'm glad to be here