The Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible 1411 Postcard

The Triumph of Death is an oil painting on panel, painted c. 1562 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. It is in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The painting is a panoramic landscape of death: the sky in the distance is blackened by smoke from burning cities and the sea is littered with shipwrecks. Armies of skeletons advance on the hapless living, who either flee in terror or try vainly to fight back. Skeletons kill people in a variety of ways – slitting throats, hanging, drowning, and even hunting with skeletal dogs. In the foreground, skeletons haul a wagon full of skulls, and ring the bell that signifies the death knell of the world. A fool plays the lute while a skeleton behind him plays along; a starving dog nibbles at the face of a child; a cross sits lonely and impotent in the centre of the painting. People are herded into a trap decorated with crosses, while a skeleton on horseback slaughters people with a scythe. The painting depicts people of different social backgrounds – from peasants and soldiers to nobles and even a king and a cardinal – being taken by death indiscriminately. Image reproduction rights can be found in the link near the bottom of this description. Sign up to Mr. Rebates for FREE and save 12% on any zazzle order in addition to a $5.00 sign up bonus All Rights Reserved; without: prejudice, recourse or notice (U.C.C. 1-308) Image Reproduction Rights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thetriumphofdeath.jpg "The Triumph of Death" plague "black death" "Pieter Bruegel" "Pieter Bruegel the Elder" death "triumph of death" "Peiter Bruegel" Pieter Bruegel Museo del Prado Madrid skeleton "The Triumph of Death by Peter Bruegel"