Skull - Hyperallergic

Art

Creating a Skeletal Symmetry from a 19th-Century Collection of Imperfect Skulls

Robbers, prostitutes, and fallen tightrope walkers: the craniums in the Hyrtl Skull Collection in the Mütter Museum at College of Physicians of Philadelphia are fractured remains of imperfect lives.

Art

Actors Have Been Dying to Play the Skeletal Role of Yorick in 'Hamlet'

Reports last month suggested that the skull of playwright William Shakespeare was no longer in his grave.

Art

Hans Holbein's Anamorphic Skull as a Temporary Tattoo

A huge, distorted skull appears like a slash across Hans Holbein the Younger's 1533 "The Ambassadors," and it's only when viewed from an angle that the death's head emerges from the painting in three dimensions. It's one of the most famous uses of anamorphosis, but how to communicate this unique ome

In Brief

A Skull Carved from a Meteorite Lands on the Auction Block

The skull is a universal symbol of mortality, appearing in artworks by everyone from Hans Holbein the Younger and Albrecht Dürer to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.