Death and the Three Nude Women, Barthel Beham | Mia

three nude women standing close together, with skeleton at back addressing R female figure; one woman stands with her back fully to the viewer with her foot on a death's head and her arm around an older, emaciated woman to her PL — Death and the Three Nude Women, c. 1525-1527
Barthel Beham
Engraving
Gift of Elizabeth, Julie, and Catherine Andrus in memory of John and Marion Andrus 2015.93.24
Not on View
In the Renaissance, Death in the company of women was a memento mori, a reminder that life is transitory and vanity useless. But rarely are the women so unidealized. While Death eyes the youngest, the artist draws attention to the plump woman making an erotic gesture. Such was the irreverence of the Beham brothers. After Barthel died, in 1540, Sebald reworked several of his plates, including this one.

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Details

Title: Death and the Three Nude Women
Dated: c. 1525-1527
Artist: Barthel Beham
Nationality: German
Artist Life: 1502–1540
Role: Artist
Gallery: Not on View
Department: European Art
Dimension: 3 1/8 × 2 3/16 in. (7.94 × 5.56 cm) (sheet)
Credit: Gift of Elizabeth, Julie, and Catherine Andrus in memory of John and Marion Andrus
Accession Number: 2015.93.24
Medium: Engraving
Country: Germany
Century: 16th century
Provenance: John E. Andrus III, Wayzata, Minn.; by descent to his daughters, Elizabeth, Katie, and Julie; gave to MIA, 2015. Earlier provenances have been gathered, but further research will increase our knowledge of their histories.
Rights: Public Domain
Classification: Prints; Works on Paper
Object Name: Print
Catalogue Raisonne: Pauli, Hollstein 40 i; Bartsch 42 (vol. 8, p. 101)
Wikipedia: Cite this information
See Also: 1 other artwork
Metadata: Click here to see the machine readable JSON data that underpins this page.
Curator Approved: This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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