The Noblewoman

Category

Library Item

Item no

28460

Title

The Noblewoman

Description

Death appears to the noblewoman. She is pictured on the right of the image, dressed in fine clothes, and gazing vainly into a mirror. Death, on the left, grabs her arm and gestures to her.

Artist / maker

Chovin, Jacques-Antoine

Date

1830

Size

12.0 x 10.2 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Art and Design Library

This image is a reminder that Death comes to all people of all statuses, including noblewomen. Death leaps around in a most inelegant way, with his bare behind showing; this further suggests how little he cares about the presence of the noblewoman and about status more generally. The image also highlights the fleeting nature of life and of one's earthly appearance; in the mirror the woman sees reflected her corporeal future in the corpse-like figure. Thus, the image is also an assertion of the folly of vanity; the implication is that the viewer should also recognise this. This is supported by the verses printed alongside the engraving, in which Death tells the woman to stop styling her hair, which will not, he says, save her from her fate.
This engraving is from Jacques-Antoine Chovin's Dance of Death series, which was first published in 1744. Chovin's Dance is a copy of earlier one by Matthäus Merian, which in turn was based on a mural in the Swiss town of Basel. This particular image is taken from an edition published around 1830, which is now part of Central Library's Dance of Death Collection.

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Related images

Related subjects

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Headdresses

Clothing and dress > Garments > Dresses

Furnishings > Ornamentation > Mirrors

People > Adults > Women

People > Body parts > Skeletons

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