Although memento mori has a philosophical basis traced back to Phaedo, in which Plato claims that the proper practice of philosophy is “about nothing else but dying and being dead”, it is more a religious term that serves to remind people of their mortal fate. As the term is always used under the context of Christianity, it is not just a reminder of the vanity of the doomed earthly life. It also swerves people’s attention to the immortality of soul and the afterlife. In this sense, it is not putting an end to the mortal life but rather prolonging it to the realm of eternity, in which all human being, after being deprived of their property, status and body, are deemed as equal. In a sense, it has a similar function to democracy, though democracy is of politics.
尽管“人终有一死”的哲学根基可以追溯到《裴多篇》里柏拉图所说的哲学的践行“无关它物，只于死与向死”，但是这句话更多的是一个宗教上的词。它主要用来提醒人们不可避免的死亡命运。这个词向来是在与基督教相关的背景中使用的。它不仅仅是用来提醒现世的虚妄。同样地，它还有引导人们关注灵魂，关注死后的世界的功用。从这个层面上来说，它并非为现世划上一个休止符而是将现世延长至永恒的领域。在这个领域中，人失去了所有的财产，地位和身体后，是平等的。在某种程度上来说，它的功能与民主相似，尽管民主是一个政治的事物。
Democracy has long been being debated on the basis that it is for a community or a state as a whole but not for any particular individual at any particular period. This means that democracy presupposes the people inside a democratic system as a continuous entity but not as individuals with mortal life. In other words, democracy is an enterprise not only for the existing generations but also the future generations. If a democratic system functions well, the presupposition of the system then will also be proved true. In this sense, the system of democracy deals with men’s mortal status by taking the people in it as a population that can increase or decrease and can endure through time with proper management.
向来人们讨论民主的时候主要是基于这样一个概念。亦就是，民主是为了一个整体的社区或国家而不是为了特定时刻的某个个体。亦就是说，民主假定了民主系统内的人民是一个可延续的整体，而不是早晚一死的个人。换句话说，民主不是一个仅为现世人的事业，而且也是为了下一代人的事业。如果一个民主系统运行良好，那么我们的假定也会随之成立。也就是说，民主解决了人会有一死的问题通过将系统内的会死的个体整合成一个可以增长或减少的人口，一个可以历经千秋万代的人口。
From the above discussion, we can see that memento mori and democracy share at least two common features: prolonging men’s mortal life to the realm of future and emphasizing on equality. Memento mori and democracy, though belonged to two different realms, sometimes function together and this paper aims to explore their interaction through close reading of two paintings: Jacques-Louis David’s“The Death of Socrates” and Hans Holbein the Younger’s “Ambassadors”. The former is with a more obvious political theme and the latter usually is regarded as an expression for the idea of memento mori, a religious theme.
从上述的讨论中，我们会发现“人终有一死”与民主至少有两点共同点：将人类的现世延伸至未来以及强调平等。“人终有一死”与民主尽管分属于两个不同的领域，有时候也会携手一起发挥作用。本文将通过细读分析两幅画来探求它们的相互作用。分别是雅克·路易斯·大卫的“苏格拉底之死”以及小汉斯荷尔拜因的“大使们”。前者有着更明显的政治主题，而后者一般被认为是典型的宗教主题“人终有一死”的呈现。
(“大使们” 该图片中间变形的块状物需要倾斜画面至一定角度才可以辨认出它的真实形状)
“The Ambassadors” is Hans Holbein the Younger’s work. It was painted in 1513 to honor the French scholar, the bishop of Lavaur, George de Selve’s visiting to his friend Jean de Dinteville. The painting is now one of the collection at the National Gallery in London. In this painting, Holbein has juxtaposed a set of scientific tools for navigation together including two globes (one terrestrial and one celestial), a shepherd’s dial, a quadrant, a torquetum, and a polyhedral sundial. Holbein also includes other things in the painting: a floor mosaic, a Turkish carpet upon the shelf and most noticeable an anamorphic skull.
“大使们”是小汉斯荷尔拜因的作品，作于1513年。它是为了纪念法国学者，拉维尔主教，George
de Selve 拜访他的朋友Jean de Dinteville 而作。作品现藏于伦敦国家美术馆。在这幅作品中，荷尔拜因并置了一系列的海洋探索的科学工具：两个球仪（一个是地球仪，一个是星象仪），一个刻度盘，一个象限仪，一个赤道仪，一个多面日晷。荷尔拜因还在画里并置了一席嵌花地毯，一席土耳其毯（架子上）以及一个十分明显的变形骷髅。
There are several different readings about this painting. The most common two are that the painting shows a strife between the secular and religious authorities and the painting is another excellent work of the theme of memento mori. They are all reasonable interpretations of the painting. Yet John Berger has put forward another reading of this painting from the perspective of ideology in his ways of seeing. He argues that many techniques are used in the painting to produce a tactile impression of the objects. It is these objects, though no doubt, they are of symbolic meaning,that dominate the painting. He then further explains that the scientific tools in the painting are all for navigation, for the slave trade and for transporting treasure from other countries. The globe shows the location of Dinteville’s manor. The anthem and the book are part of the colonialism. What Berger interprets from this painting is the attitude of the capitalists toward the world. His interpretation may be reasonable but is far from convincing especially when he just leaves the most noticeable anamorphic skull in the air and turns to the debate between realism and symbolism. (Howells 64)
关于这幅画有好几种解读。认为这幅画反映了宗教及世俗权力的冲突以及认为这幅画是“人终有一死”主题的又一佳作的观点是其中最为常见的两种观点。然而，伯格在他的《观看之道》里却提出了一种从意识形态层面解读这幅画的观点。他认为这幅画里使用了许多绘画技巧来营造一种“物的触感”的效果。正是这些物品占据了画面，而这些物品都是有象征意义的。他进一步解释说，这些物品都是用于航海的，用于奴隶贸易以及用于将从其它国家那里搬运财富用的。地球仪显示了Dinteville的庄园所在处。赞美诗和书本也都是殖民主义的一部分。伯格从这幅画里读到的是资本家对待世界的态度。他的解读是有道理的但是却不够有说服力。尤其当他完全略过了那个最明显的变形骷髅，转而去谈论现实主义和象征主义的论争时，他的结论就显得更加没有说服力。
What Berger leaves out in his discussion may actually overturn his ideological interpreting of “The Ambassadors”. Berger concludes that the painting shows men’s desire to power and wealth. But many critics have pointed out the anamorphic skull shows the conclusion to be otherwise. Skull is a stereotyped symbol of the theme of memento mori and its meaning is obvious: “Vanity of vanity. All is vanity.”.
而伯格略掉的那部分恰恰可能是能颠覆他关于“大使们”的意识形态解读的。伯格总结到，该画作展示了人对于权力和财富的欲望。但是许多评论家却指出那个变形的骷髅恰恰导向了相反的结论。骷髅就是就是“人终有一死”的典型象征，它表达着十分明显的意义：“虚妄中的虚妄。一切都是虚妄。”
Berger sees the objects in the painting not as something concrete and real but only as something of symbolic meaning. But he fails to see the men in it as two figures only with symbolic meaning. He sees them as two individuals with life as many other critics do so that he cannot reconcile the relationship between the mortal men and the objects that are deemed as part of the colonialism. In other words, he fails to see the relation between mortality and democracy. But he does make a good point in reading the painting from an ideological perspective. Based on Berger’s reading, I’ll exam the meaning of the skull from the perspective of ideology and see what it means as a symbol of death to objects that symbolizes the early capitalistic democracy.
伯格将画作中的物品视为仅仅具有象征意义的物品而不是具象的物品。但是他却没能将画中的两人视为仅仅是有人形的象征。他同其他评论家一样将他们视为有生命的两个个体，所以他无法调和会死的人与物品间的关系。这些物品被视为殖民主义的一部分。换句话说，他无法看到人必有一死与民主之间的关系。但是他确实把物品视为意识形态的象征，这是一个好的开头。基于伯格的理解，我将会进一步从意识形态的层面探求骷髅的意义，以求能够明晰骷髅作为死亡的象征对于那些象征着早期资本主义民主的物品的意义。
At the Middle Age,memento mori is one important theme of religion. It serves to fulfill Christianity’s goal of leading people’s attention from the secular affairs to the eternal soul and the afterlife. This belief in eternal soul, afterlife and God was later partly replaced by the belief in truth and science. In a sense,they are the same. The essence of these two beliefs is that they both promise the human being with a brighter future. The only difference is that one is with God, the other with truth.
在中世纪，“人终有一死”是一个十分重要的宗教主题。它实现了基督教将人引离世俗凡事转向永恒灵魂和身后世界的目标。对于灵魂，身后世界，以及上帝的信仰在后来会部分地被对于真理和科学的信仰所替代。从某种意义上来说，它们是一样的。这两种信仰的核心在于它们都承诺了人类一个更美好的未来。唯一不同的是，前者用上帝来承诺，后者用真理来承诺。
As mentioned above, if we take Selve and Dinteville only as two figures that have a symbolic meaning but not as two individuals with a mortal life, we will see that they are also part of the system of colonialism at that time, just as other objects. The skull and two men can be interpreted as a group with symbolic meaning. Men are juxtaposed with scientific tools in the painting. They are just part of the career of pursuing after truth, wealth and power. Men will die one day yet their pursuing will be passed on. Selve and Dinteville represents the religious and the secular authorities respectively. Critics have suggested that the painting also shows a strife between these two powers. However, it can also be read as a coalition between the powers. They work together to form a early democratic government. Memento mori used to be the ideology of the religion.But, at this period, the power of memento mori started transfering from religion to secular authority, from God to science, from heaven to democracy.
如前所述，如果我们将Selve和Dinteville 仅仅视为两个有人形的象征物而不是有生命的个体，我们就会发现他们也仅仅是当时殖民事业的一部分，正如其它物品一样。骷髅头和两个人应该被一起解读。人与其它科学工具被放置在一起。它们都是追寻真理，财富和权力的一部分。人当然会死，但是他们的追求却会被传递下去。Selve和 Dinteville 分别代表了宗教和世俗的权力。评论家认为这展现了宗教与世俗的冲突，但我们不妨也把它解读为世俗与宗教的结合。它们一同发挥作用来构建早期的民主政体。“人终有一死”过去曾是宗教的意识形态。然而，在这个时期，这个意识形态的力量开始从宗教流向了世俗，从上帝流向了科学，从天堂流到了民主政体。
Almost 200 hundred years after the time when Holbein painted “The Ambassadors”, at the time of Enlightenment, we may see a stronger belief in truth and democratic government than in God and heaven. This is well showed in “The Death of Socrates”.
“The Death of Socrates”,an oil canvas painted by French painter Jacques-Louis David in 1787, depicts the story of the execution of Socrates. Painted in 1787, two years before the French revolution, the painting is with an obvious purpose to propagate the revolution. It serves as a symbol to call for revolution to resist the unjust authority. Beside the function of propaganda, it also shows a concern about the relation between men’s mortality and the so called eternal truth, in this case,the relation between individual’s mortality and the law of the state.
（“苏格拉底之死”）
在“大使们”被荷尔拜因创作出来后的约200年，也就是启蒙主义时期，比起对于上帝和天堂的信仰，我们可以看到更加明确的对于真理和民主的信仰。这在油画“苏格拉底之死”中被很好的展现了出来。
“苏格拉底之死”是由法国画家雅克·路易斯·大卫于1787年创作的油画。它描绘了处死苏格拉底的故事。作于1787年，先于法国大革命2年，这幅画有着很明显的宣扬革命的目的。它被用作唤起抵抗不公正权力的象征。除了宣传的目的外，它同时也展现了对于人的必死命运以及真理之间的关系的思考，在这里，特指的是个人的生死与国家律法的关系。
With the light shedding downward on his muscular body, Socrates no doubt is one focus of the painting.The light symbolizes the wisdom or the truth coming from above and Socrates is at the center of it. This means that Socrates is full of wisdom. Even before death, he still would not give in to fear or other emotions. He remains rational and prepares to sacrifice himself for his belief. As a contrast,pupils around him are all in grief. This not only can be seen from their expressions but also from the robes they wear. They wear blue, yellow and red robe which respectively symbolizes grief, weakness and passion. As a contrast,Socrates and Plato all wear a grey robe that symbolizes ration. They remain calm. Plato sits calmly and seems meditating on something. Socrates seems determined at his decision. Actually, at Phaedo, before the execution he has been talking at length about the immortality of the soul to prove that death is not to be feared.
藉由着将光线聚集在苏格拉底强壮的身体上，他无疑是画面的一个焦点。光线象征着自上而来的真理和智慧。这表明苏格拉底是充满智慧的。即使在他死之前，他也始终保持理智并随时准备为了自己的信仰而牺牲自己。而作为对比，他身边的门徒则都沉浸在忧伤内。这不仅可以通过他们的表情观察到，也可以通过他们所着的衣服观察到。他穿着蓝色，黄色，和红色的长袍。这些颜色分别代表，忧伤，虚弱和愤慨。而作为对比，苏格拉底和柏拉图则穿着象征理智的灰色长袍。他们都能保持冷静。柏拉图安静地坐在床脚像是在思索着什么。苏格拉底看起来则对自己的决定十分坚定。事实上，在《斐多篇》里，在苏格拉底被行刑前，他已经长篇大幅地谈论了灵魂的不朽来表明他不怕死亡。
This is further showed by his pointing upward finger. The gesture is from Raphael’s “The School of Athens”. In the “The School of Painting”, Plato points his finger upward to declare his persevere pursuing of the divine inspiration or knowledge of thing divine.In facing of death, the Socrates under David’s brush also shows his attitude very clearly by gesturing to the light coming from above. Actually, Socrates,at the point he taking the hemlock to close his life, would have been at his 70. David would not be ignorant to this fact so he is actually purposely muscularizing Socrates. David is not saying that Socrates still has a strong physical body at 70 but that he is strong at his belief. This belief is that a state or its people should be ruled by law even though he is now sentenced to death. The truth is held by Socrates as eternal and he will not sacrifice his belief to change for his mortal life, which is depicted as still strong and young by David. Thus, Socrates, in declaring his belief, reaches out his hand to the hemlock without hesitation.
这种态度在画作里由他向上指的手指进一步展现了出来。这个姿势是从拉斐尔的“雅典学院”里而来的。在雅典学院里，柏拉图也将手指向上指来表明他对于神圣的知识的追求。而面对死亡，大卫笔下的苏格拉底同样用向上指的姿势来表明他的态度。事实上，苏格拉底被处以毒酒赐死的时候已是七旬老人。大卫不可能不知道这样一个事实，所以他是故意使得苏格拉底看起来强壮的。大卫不是在表明苏格拉底在七十岁的时候还有一个强壮的身体，而是在表明他依然十分有力地坚定着自己的信仰立场。这是对于一个国家以及其人民必须法治的信仰，尽管他被这套法律宣判死刑。苏格拉底将真理视为永恒，而他也不会牺牲自己的信仰来交换生命。而且，这个生命在大卫笔下被描绘成依然强壮，年轻的生命。因此，苏格拉底，一边宣示着自己的信仰，一边伸出手毫无迟疑地拿起了毒酒。
（“雅典学院”）
From the discussion above, we may reach a conclusion that at “The Death of Socrates”, the belief in eternal truth or in the law of democratic state together with the acknowledgement of men’s inevitable immortality are arranged together to show a familiar subject in the Middle Ages, memento mori. Only this time, the religious implication of pursuing eternal soul or the afterlife is replaced by the pursuing of eternal truth or the democratic law.
从上面的讨论中，我们可以得出一个结论。在“苏格拉底之死”中，对于永恒真理的信仰以及对于民主法律的信仰与对于人必有一死的确信被安排在一起来展现一个在中世纪十分常见的主题：“人终有一死”。只不过这一次，宗教蕴意里的对于永恒灵魂以及身后世界的追寻被替换成了对于真理及民主律法的追求。
To conclude, memento mori and democracy fulfill a same goal: prolonging men’s mortality life to the realm of future and in promising people a more equal status in the future (one through death, the other through democracy). 总的来说，人终有一死与民主都实现了一个共同目的：将人的现世延长至未来的领域以及承诺了人在未来更为平等的地位（一个通过死亡，一个通过民主）。