The Lady and Death (Die Dame und der Tod)

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The Lady and Death (Die Dame und der Tod)

Artist Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550)

Date1541

DimensionsH. 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm); W. 2 1/8 in. (5.3 cm)

MediumEngraving

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineWilliam J. Hitchcock Fund in memory of Grace J. Hitchcock

Object number

1986.57

Not on View

Label TextThe composition is perhaps based on an earlier print by Albrecht Dürer called The Promenade. In The Promenade a young woman is seen in profile accompanied by a dashing young man, while Death lurks behind a tree. In Beham’s print, Death appears to be looking past the young woman and directly at the viewer. Perhaps Beham is reminding us of our own mortality.Published ReferencesBartsch, Adam, Le Peintre Graveur, Vol. 8, Leipzig, 1866, p. 174, no. 149.

Hollstein, F.W.H., German Engravings, Etchings, and Woodcuts, ca 1400-1700. Amsterdam, 1954-55, p. 90.

Koch, Robert A., ed., The Illustrated Bartsch, Vol. 15, New York, 1978, p. 90, no. 149-1.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, Storytelling in Miniature, October 7, 2011-March 4, 2012.Comparative ReferencesSee also Levin, William R., Images of Love and Death in Late Medieval and Renaissance Art, Ann Arbor, 1975, p. 71, no. 29.