Representing life and death as human figures was not a matter of course in the first quarter of the 11th century. So when Vita, life, and Mors, death, appear at the foot of the cross, as in the illumination from the so-called Uta Codex, a gospel book that was made in Regensburg for Abbess Uta from Niedermünster, this represents an unparalleled novelty.
“crux e[st] destructio mortis – crux e[st] repa[ra]tio vit[a]e.” – The cross is the destruction of death. The cross is the restoration of life (inscription next to the trunk of the cross)
The personification was deliberately implemented here to make Vita and Mors approachable to the viewer and to convey the illumination’s moral and religious message through contrasts. Both are dressed as humans and express themselves through facial expressions and gestures. The position and posture of the two figures reveal clashing oppositions. This is also apparent with the other figures placed next to them – the personifications of the sun (Sol) and Christianity (Ecclesia) appear in the left half of the picture, while their counterparts, the personifications of the moon (Luna) and Judaism (Synagoga), appear in the right half of the picture. In each case, one party is the clear winner. Vita stands to the right of Christ, with her face and upper body turned towards him, while Mors, on the other hand, is leaning downwards and appears to be stumbling to the side as he is bitten by a shoot growing from the cross. This depiction is based on a promise of salvation from God in the Old Testament, which plays on the similarity between the Latin words for death, mors, and bite, morsus: “ero mors tua o mors ero morsus tuus” - O death, I will be your death, I will be your bite (Hosea 13:14). The message is clear: Life triumphs over death, the cross, and thus God is the conqueror of death.
Vita
To the right of the cross and thus on the side that is more highly valued in the Christian faith stands Vita: dressed in lordly robes made of red, blue and gold fabric, adorned with jewellery and, like Christ, victoriously wearing a crown. Christ and Vita are connected by the conquest of death.
Bavarian State Library
Mors
On the other hand, Mors: The tattered ochre-brown robe, the chin tied up with a cloth, a typical method used in the Middle Ages to prepare the dead for burial, and his pale skin make him look like a corpse. Even his attributes of sickle and spear can no longer help him: broken and bent, he holds them uselessly in his hands.
Bavarian State Library
