The Child

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

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Related images

Related subjects

Furnishings > Ornamentation > Hourglasses

Homes > Residential buildings > Bothies

People > Body parts > Skeletons

People > Children > Babies

People > Children > Families

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