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The Child
Deuchar, David, 1810, Etching
The Child
The Child
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About this image
Related
Location
Category
Library Item
Item no
28469
Title
The Child
Description
Death, shown here as a skeleton, takes the child from his mother and older sibling. The child seems to wave goodbye to his family; they are clearly distressed by the child's death, but he is strangely calm. Death holds his hourglass up and examines it almost triumphantly. This image is a comment on the cruelty of Death and its disregard for age and naivety.
Artist / maker
Deuchar, David
Date
1810
Size
8.0 x 6.0 cm
Type
Etching
Location
Art and Design Library
This etching is one of David Deuchar's Dance of Death series, which was first published in London in 1788. For his Dance Deuchar used the frontispiece from another series by
Christian von Mechel
which was published in 1786. Deuchar replaced Mechel's name with his own, but kept the original date, so many editions of Deuchar's Dance are dated earlier than they should be. This particular image is taken from an edition of 1810; this is revealed by watermarks in the book's pages. The frontispiece states that Deuchar's images are based on
Hans Holbein the Younger's
Dance of Death; however, this too is deceptive because Deuchar seems to have depended on the Dance of Wenceslaus Hollar rather than Holbein's original Dance. Deuchar consistently cited Holbein as his source, and thus perpetuated this myth, by writing the initials 'HB i' ('Holbein designed this') beneath his etchings; 'DD f' signals that Deuchar made this particular Dance. Central Library's Dance of Death Collection includes a number of copies of Deuchar's Dance.
Exhibitions with this item
An introduction to the Dance of Death
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Related images
Related subjects
Furnishings
>
Ornamentation
>
Hourglasses
Homes
>
Residential buildings
>
Bothies
People
>
Body parts
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Skeletons
People
>
Children
>
Babies
People
>
Children
>
Families
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