Perhaps it’s the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to the
Mosaic Skull on view in Children of the Plumed Serpent or maybe
it’s the museum’s proximity to the Page Museum’s treasure trove
of fossils—whatever the reason, I’ve got skulls on the brain
(pun unfortunately intended). Once upon a time, a post about
skulls would have seemed better suited for autumn. That is,
after all, when Halloween haunts us with deliciously spooky
skeletons and Día de los Muertos wields memento mori to
commemorate both our own mortality and those we have lost.
However, the skull’s iconographic popularity now seems to be a
year-round phenomenon. Having the privilege of perusing LACMA’s
galleries each day, I’m reminded that skulls have had a
longstanding role in art history, long before Damien Hirst’s For
the Love of God triggered a cranium craze in the art world and
residually throughout pop culture. Allow me to guide you through
a mere sampling of skulls in LACMA’s collection: On View:
Resnick Pavilion The aforementioned Mixteca-