For the Love of God, Enlightenment

In 2007, Damien Hirst made international headlines with the release of ‘For the Love of God’, a human skull cast in platinum and set with 8,601 diamonds, totalling a massive 1,106.18 carats. The raw materials used in its creation makes ‘For the Love of God’ an artwork of unprecedented artistry and scale.

In the years following the sculpture’s release, Hirst reproduced the image in a series of large-scale print editions, including ‘For the Love of God, Enlightenment’ (2014). Staring directly back at the viewer, the work, like the sculpture, is often interpreted as a direct and confrontational memento mori, a reminder of the fragility of life.

An argument has also been made for the opposite, interpreting the work, like his ‘Butterflies’, as a glorious gesture of life literally in the face of death. The skull is caught in the same position as the original sculpture, its jaw opening and seemingly grinning. Covered in glistening diamonds, the image is imbued with further life through Hirst’s printing technique. Harking back to techniques popularised by artists like Warhol, Hirst overlaid these works with a fine layer of diamond dust, thus imbuing the edition with the same opulence and lustre of the original sculpture.