The fourth film in our series exploring the remarkable collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
In this episode, Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb meets curator Matthew Winterbottom to explore the morbid side of life in Early Modern Europe... through Memento Mori.
This was a period awash with objects that were as stunning as they were chilling. Together, they examine how art, jewellery, and everyday items reminded people of the inevitability of death. From intricately carved skull rings to delicate ivory automatons, we uncover how mortality was woven into both private devotion and public display.
Up Next in Recent History Hit Originals
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Paestum: A Tale of Three Cities
The story of ancient Italy is so much more than just Rome. Tristan Hughes visits the extraordinary site of Paestum in southern Italy, home to some of the greatest ancient Greek temples from anywhere in the world.
From majestic temples to pristine wall paintings more that 2,500 years old, he exp...
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A Very Victorian Scandal: The Trials ...
In 1895, the world's first celebrity trial challenged the creaking moral core of the British Empire. Dr Anthony Delaney traces the extraordinary trajectory of Oscar Wilde—from the toast of London’s West End, a shining star on both sides of the Atlantic, to the disgraced accused standing before th...
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Ancient Adventures: Libya
Join Dan Snow on a special expedition that goes far off the beaten track of history as we venture to Libya in North Africa to explore extraordinary Greek and Roman sites, centred around one of the greatest cities of the ancient world, Cyrene.
After years of civil war and instability, History Hit...
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