Mors Janua Vitae

c1905-07

This rather curious piece is a model for a tomb. The tomb was designed to hold the remains of the commissioner, Eliza Macloghlin, and her husband Percy, a provincial doctor. Their ashes were to be held in the casket clasped by the lifelike figures.

The title means 'death, the door to life' but not in a Christian sense; both were atheists and the symbolism shown is pagan. We see Anteros, representing selfless love, on the left lower panel and Eros, representing sexual love, on the right.

The bronze monument itself now stands in the Royal College of Surgeons in London, but it was this two-metre model that the sculptor, Alfred Gilbert (1854-1934), worked on. The painted plaster and wood provide the monument with its brilliant ghostly colour and fantastically rich detail.

This piece can be seen in the Walker Art Gallery. An extended study of Mors Janua Vitae is available on this website as part of our object of the month series. An audio recording of a gallery talk by Dr Paul O'Keeffe on Mors Janua Vitae is also available.

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