Death Pursuing the Human Herd
- Artist
- James Ensor, Belgian, 1860–1949
- Date
- 1896
- Material
- Etching
- Classification
- Prints
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- image: 9 1/4 x 6 7/8 in. (23.5 x 17.5 cm)
sheet: 18 3/16 x 14 1/8 in. (46.2 x 35.8 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Dr. Borden S. Veeder
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 223:1948
NOTES
The packed crowd in this city street seen from above is punctuated by an army of scythe-bearing skeletons personifying Death. A seeming regiment of them is dispersed throughout the mass of people, while a large, hairy-headed skeleton bears down on the roiling masses from the sky. The horrified expressions of the crowd, a drunkard vomiting from a tavern window on the right, hybrid demons in the sky, a burning rooftop, and a grimacing orb above it all contribute to a hellishly frightening scene.
Skeletons and imaginative demons have a long history in European religious imagery. James Ensor, a prominent painter in the Belgian avant-garde of the 1880s and 1890s, was well-schooled in the art of his predecessors. Yet it was his view of contemporary Belgian society, governed by a predominantly Catholic state, that fueled his often carnivalesque scenes.
Skeletons and imaginative demons have a long history in European religious imagery. James Ensor, a prominent painter in the Belgian avant-garde of the 1880s and 1890s, was well-schooled in the art of his predecessors. Yet it was his view of contemporary Belgian society, governed by a predominantly Catholic state, that fueled his often carnivalesque scenes.