Memento mori at Port-Royal

It is that time of year. Between All Souls' Day and the First Sunday of Advent, the liturgical year focusses on mortality and the Last Things. Classic elements of memento mori paintings seek to remind us of our mortality and the transience of life, encouraging reflection on death and the afterlife. These ideas were particularly popular in Port-Royal, the Cistercian abbey that has often been described as a center of Jansenism. 
This drawing is based on an artwork by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674), who fulfilled many commissions for the famous Parisian abbey ... and Cardinal Richelieu. Note the skull, emphasizing human mortality, the clock as a symbol of time and life's brevity, and the wilting flowers, which signify decay and the fleeting nature of beauty and life.