The Triumph of Death
The year 1562 marks the completion of an oil panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. It depicts a panorama where an army of skeletons wreaks havoc across a blackened, desolate landscape. Fires burn in the distance while the sea is littered with shipwrecks. A few leafless trees stud hills otherwise bare of vegetation. Fish lie rotting on the shores of a corpse-choked pond. Art historian James Snyder emphasizes the scorched, barren earth devoid of any life as far as the eye can see. Legions of skeletons advance on the living who either flee in terror or try in vain to fight back. In the foreground, skeletons haul a wagon full of skulls. The upper left corner features others ringing a bell that signifies the death knell of the world.
According to Italian Wikipedia sources, the background of a tower shows the profile of Fortification of Reggio Calabria and the Tower of Pentimele. The Flemish painter was in Reggio in the sixteenth century and refers to his notes of voyage which describe the attack of the Pirates of Dragut on the beach of the quarter of arches. This work reflects the severe risk of plague during the mid-sixteenth century when it was created. Bruegel combines two distinct visual traditions within the panel representing both the native tradition of Northern woodcuts of the Dance of Death and the Italian conception of the Triumph of Death. Classic examples of these frescoes can now be seen in the Palazzo Sclafani in Palermo and in the Camposanto Monumentale at Pisa.
A skeleton parodies human happiness by playing a hurdy-gurdy while the wheels of his cart crush a man as if his life is of no importance. A woman has fallen in the path of the death cart holding a slender thread about to be cut by scissors in her other hand. This represents Bruegel's interpretation of Atropos. Nearby another woman holds a spindle and distaff serving as classical symbols of the fragility of human life. These elements represent another Bruegel interpretation of Clotho and Lachesis. The horse-riding skeletons probably allude to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. People are herded into a coffin-shaped trap decorated with crosses while skeletons kill people with scythes.
The painting has been in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1827. It was created around 1562 and remains part of the BBC's 100 Great Paintings collection today. A 1597 version exists by Jan Brueghel the Younger held at Eggenberg Palace in Graz. Another 1626 version attributed to Pieter Bruegel the Younger resides in an unknown private collection. A 1608 version attributed to Pieter Bruegel the Younger can be found at Kunstmuseum Basel. The original work survived centuries of ownership changes before finding its permanent home in Spain during the early nineteenth century.
The Triumph of Death appears as a background image for the text intro of the second part of the Monty Python sketch The Spanish Inquisition. Sylvia Plath describes the painting particularly the lovers in the lower right-hand corner in her poem Two Views of a Cadaver Room. Heavy metal band Black Sabbath released a compilation album titled Black Sabbath Greatest Hits in 1977 which used the painting as front and back covers. In Underworld, a 1996 novel by Don DeLillo FBI director J. Edgar Hoover becomes utterly intrigued by the painting after seeing it reproduced in torn pages of Life magazine. He eventually obtains a print of it for his personal collection.
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Common questions
When was The Triumph of Death painting completed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder?
The year 1562 marks the completion of an oil panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. It depicts a panorama where an army of skeletons wreaks havoc across a blackened, desolate landscape.
Where is The Triumph of Death painting currently located in Madrid?
The painting has been in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1827. It remains part of the BBC's 100 Great Paintings collection today.
What historical event does The Triumph of Death reflect during the mid-sixteenth century?
This work reflects the severe risk of plague during the mid-sixteenth century when it was created. Art historian James Snyder emphasizes the scorched, barren earth devoid of any life as far as the eye can see.
Which classical figures are represented by women holding threads and spindles in The Triumph of Death?
A woman holds a slender thread about to be cut by scissors representing Atropos while another holds a spindle and distaff serving as symbols for Clotho and Lachesis. These elements represent another Bruegel interpretation of the Three Fates.
How many versions of The Triumph of Death exist attributed to Pieter Bruegel the Younger?
A 1597 version exists by Jan Brueghel the Younger held at Eggenberg Palace in Graz. Another 1626 version resides in an unknown private collection and a 1608 version can be found at Kunstmuseum Basel.