Art Institute of Chicago

The Triumph of Death, plate five from The Triumphs of Petrarch

Georg Pencz

Date

c. 1539

Medium

Engraving in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

Germany

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The back of this impression of Georg Pencz’s Triumph of Death bears the signature, dated 1676, of Pierre Mariette II, an illustrious connoisseur and printseller who seems to have found the series to be a good investment. Mariette purchased at least one copy of the set before, as the British Museum now possesses both the Triumph of Love and The Triumph of Death signed by Mariette and dated 1666. This image itself is one of the most dramatic in the series, with a scythe-wielding skeleton embodying Death and a terrifying Hellmouth reminiscent of the work of Hieronymus Bosch opening in the distance.

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