- Lenticular – digital printing on PETG plastic
- Edition of 5000
- Signed by the artist
“I just thought, ‘What can you pit against death?”
‘For the Love of God’, a platinum skull set with diamonds, is one of Hirst’s most important and widely recognised works. Its raw materials define it as an artwork of unprecedented scale. The 32 platinum plates making up ‘For the Love of God’ are set with 8,601 VVS to flawless pavé-set diamonds, weighing a massive 1,106.18 carats. The teeth inserted into the jaw are real and belong to the original skull.
It stands amidst the genres of art, history and religion as an unprecedented and conspicuous totem of death. Petrified into their settings, the diamonds could serve as an attempt to pay indulgences to God, as the title and lavish exterior suggest, or perhaps the work is a memento mori, remind us of the evanescence of human life. In this rendition, the image is printed lenticular on PETG plastic, furthering the illusion of three-dimensional depth.
