Momento Mori

The cypress tree is a popular cliche of the Tuscan countryside in central Italy. The trees are symbolic of death and grief, and are said to mark spots where people have perished. The tradition has ancient and mythological roots, as explained by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, where the youth Cyparissus is so overcome with grief at having killed his beloved tame stag that he is transformed into a cypress tree and weeps sap eternally over the spot. This tree lines a field near Torrenieri.