Life and death. Oil painting.

Reference:
45064i
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Public Domain Mark

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Credit

Life and death. Oil painting. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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About this work

Description

The head and shoulders of a boy (or possibly young woman), of which the side on the viewer's left shows the face as in life while the side on the right shows a skull and other signs of death. The costume is Italian seventeenth-century, but date of the painting could be later

Physical description

1 painting : oil on copper ; copper, oval 9.7 x 8.8 cm

Lettering

There is a detailed inscription on the reverse in Italian stating that the work is on copper ("sopra il rame") and then "la si vedeva e [?] tale in natura e scolorita, e morta in sepoltura" (on one side the face is as in nature and on the other side the face is pale and dead in the grave")

Reference

Wellcome Collection 45064i

Subjects

Where to find it

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