It’s safe to presume that for as long as humans have existed, they’ve grappled with the inevitability of death. For much of that existence, they have found ways to immortalize the struggle via memento mori. Roughly translating from Latin as “Remember that you must die,” memento mori are symbolic reminders of death in art, literature, philosophy, fashion, and architecture. The common symbols associated with them—skulls, fruit, flowers, snuffed candles, and clocks—serve to remind us that life is fleeting and fragile; they’re the morbid yin to carpe diem’s yang.

The phrase as a philosophy is believed to have taken root in ancient Roman times, when victorious generals paraded through the streets, followed closely by a slave who whispered continuous reminders of mortality to t...