Terms and conditions of use
Death and an old woman
(c. 1655)
Medium
oil on wood panel
Measurements
37.3 × 33.6 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1874
Gallery location
17th Century & Flemish Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Joos van Craesbeeck was the only known pupil of the Flemish genre painter Adriaen Brouwer and became a leading painter known for his quirky, often macabre, sense of humour. This homely scene reflects his characteristically wry view of mortality. A skeleton creeps up on an elderly woman, who is surrounded by familiar symbols of death. In a painting on the wall, a second skeleton takes possession of a coffin in a churchyard. Behind the woman a message warns the viewer that ‘No bird, flesh or fish has ever dodged it, they don’t miss shooting’. A second inscription states: ‘My body is/has been preserved; I know not where my soul dwells’.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
the Netherlands
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint l.c.r.: C B
Accession Number
p.304.7-1
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Allegory and Symbols Human Figures
Subjects (specific)
coffins Death (allegorical character) deaths elderly memento mori mortality skeletons (animal components) women (female humans)