Structured according to the classical categories of the still-life tradition--Flora, Food, House and Home, Fauna, and Death, each chapter explores how the timeless symbolic resonance of the memento mori--a reminder of death, change, and the passing of time--has been rediscovered for a new millennium. Among the artists represented are John Currin, Saara Ekstr m, Elmgreen & Dragset, Renata Hegyi, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Gary Hume, Jeff Koons, McDermott & McGough, Beatriz Milhazes, Gabriel Orozco, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood, and Cy Twombly.