“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that have received--only what you have given.” – St Francis

There is a painting – an image of a Franciscan monk in his robes, holding a skull, which St. Francis frequently did, to remind us of the fragility of life. St Francis is one of my favourite saints. Skulls can symbolize death - which is what this quote is about - or they can symbolize knowledge & wisdom. Both this painting of the monk and mine of the skull and blue rose are a type of "Carpe diem, requiem morte , tempus fugit or Memento Mori" (Seize the day, remember death - vanitas theme.” – Christian Furr

The skull depicted is the human skull used for Hamlet by the Actor Sir Henry Irving (1838-1905) It is on display in the Irving room at the ‘mysterious museum’ Russell-Cotes in Bournemouth. Furr had visited and photgraphed it for the still life. Skull with blue rose was also painted in 2014 with this study without the rose.