A skull rests beside an hourglass, the sand half run — the plainest of memento mori, the reminder to 'remember you must die' that ran through European art for centuries. Emblems like this one, printed in the seventeenth century, paired the skull with running sand, a guttering candle, or a wilting flower to fix a single lesson in the eye: time passes, and passes evenly, whoever you are. It is not a morbid image so much as a steadying one — the whole of a life measured against a small glass of falling sand. Hung on a wall, it did the quiet work such pictures were made for: it kept count.

Maker: Engraver unknown
Date: c. 1650
Medium of the original: Engraving
Original held by: Memento mori emblem, 17th c. · scan: Wikimedia Commons
Credit: Memento mori emblem, 17th c. · scan: Wikimedia Commons
Rights: Public domain, verified
Catalogue number: PA-00477

As chosen: 8 x 12 in, art print, classic frame
Picture	8 x 12 in
Outside size	9.6 x 13.6 in
Depth	0.9 in (22 mm)
Weight	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]]
Hanging	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]]
Material	Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing
Made in	Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi

Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.

How the print check works

Sizes offered
Size	dpi	Grade	How it fits
8 x 12 in	215	Excellent	Trimmed 0.4%

Sizes withheld
Size	Why
8 x 10 in	Wrong shape: a 17% crop
11 x 14 in	Wrong shape: a 16% crop
12 x 16 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
12 x 18 in	143 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
16 x 20 in	Wrong shape: a 17% crop
16 x 24 in	107 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
18 x 24 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
20 x 30 in	86 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
24 x 30 in	Wrong shape: a 17% crop
24 x 36 in	71 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
30 x 40 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
36 x 48 in	Wrong shape: a 11% crop
40 x 60 in	43 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged

Scanned

2026-10-07

Master file

1,726 x 2,600 px, srgb

Tone

Darks 80, lights 245 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark

Colour

0% vivid

Sharpness

103.92

Notes

Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
A plain margin is part of the file (6% of an edge): it prints as part of the picture

Shipping for this piece to a US address is $24.80, the print room’s own rate, charged per piece. Checkout shows the total before you pay.

Every piece is printed after you order it, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ships from there. For now we ship to US addresses only.

A piece that arrives damaged, misprinted or in the wrong size is replaced at our cost. The details: shipping and returns and replacements.