In my perpetual state of crackedoutdom, preparing for my senior Art History exam, I sometimes stumble upon gems like this…
Hans Baldung Grien, Death and the Maiden, 1518-20
Death looks more than a little peckish here as he takes a chomp out of this already dead looking lady’s cheek. I’ve seen plenty of memento mori in my 4 years of studying art history but this is the first uncluttered image of Death literally owning some poor girl. Usually, the subject is portrayed through a single skull, still lifes, dances of the dead or the wildly chaotic scenes from the Last Judgement. The composition here is focused, central and sparse. Of particular interest is Grien’s use of a black background which is traditional for portraiture or still life painting. Reminds me of the lines from Snoop’s latest musical contribution to the world, Gangsta Luv, “it’s like True Blood/I sink my teeth in”.
