The Artist and his family

Category

Library Item

Item no

28457

Title

The Artist and his family

Description

A depiction of the artist and his family being taken by Death. Death here appears as multiple skeletons. The tallest whispers in the artist's ear; another, wearing fashionable headgear, tweaks the wife's hat; a third, child-sized skeleton stands between them. This woodcut acts as a reminder that everyone - man, woman, or child - is subject to Death and Death's mercy; this is highlighted by the fact that the skeletons match the family in appearance.

Artist / maker

Scharffenberg, Georg

Date

1842

Size

11.5 x 8.2 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Art and Design Library

Georg Scharffenberg's Dance of Death series was made as late as 1578. It was initially published some ten years later by one Huldrich Frölich, who labelled it as a copy of one of the Dance of Death murals in Basel. Many of Scharffenberg's woodcuts are actually copies of Hans Holbein the Younger's series. However, this scene does seem to be based on the Basel murals; it refers to Hans Kluber, the artist responsible for one of the Basel Dances, and his wife, Barbara Haller. This particular image is from an 1842 edition of Scharffenberg's woodcuts, which is now part of Central Library's Dance of Death Collection.

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Related subjects

People > Body parts > Skeletons

People > Children > Families

People > Entertainment and sports > Artists

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