The fears of this period can also be understood quite well via the examination of contemporaneous memento mori (remember you must die) motifs. He escorts those from the highest factions and the lowliest alleys through the veil, underscoring the fact that Death does not discriminate and all will die eventually. In this rendition, the bright illustrations show Death as a human skeletal figure, sashed in white drapery and wielding a scythe. More specifically, in the illustrations of the notable yet anonymous Parisian illuminator Maître de Jacques de Besançon. The epitome of the era and region’s death imagery can be found in the trope of La Danse macabre (The Dance of Death). With the onslaught of the Great Famine, Black Plague, and Hundred Years War, death seeped into all aspects of life. In Western art, the rise of skeletal figures as Death can be traced back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Although this and other ancient depictions of Death are a far cry from modern interpretations, in giving physical form to the abstract concept of death, these cultures laid a vital foundation for later representations. The son of Erebus and Nyx, and the twin of Hypnos, Thanatos' sweeping wings and gentle touch brought even the strongest of warriors to their graves. But it is the minor god Thanatos who is the physical embodiment of Death. In the context of ancient Greek myth, one might initially think of Hades, Charon, or the Fates. While this work does not depict the exact moment of the Chantress’ demise nor a singular personification of Death, these deities are each associated with death in some way and thus undertake duties of assessing morality and guiding her into the afterlife. Isis, Anubis, and Osiris surround the Chantress she holds her eyes and heart, waiting for the scales to level and reveal the final judgment of her gods. An Egyptian funerary scroll from 1050 BCE, depicts the Chantress of Amun undergoing Nauny’s ritual, post-mortem weighing of the heart.
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