This image represents a two-dimensional work of art, such as a
drawing,
painting,
print, or similar creation. The
copyright for this image is likely owned by either the
artist who created it, the
individual who commissioned the work, or their
legal heirs. It is believed that the use of
low-resolution images of artworks:
for purposes of
critical commentary on:
- the specific work in question,
- the artistic genre or technique employed in the artwork, or
- the artistic school or tradition to which the artist is associated,
qualifies as
fair use under
copyright law.
Any other use of this image, could potentially constitute a copyright infringement.
This painting is a brutal illustration of many types of people being indiscriminately taken by death. Skeletons are murdering hundreds of people, everyone from peasants to nobles, and from children to the King. None are spared their fate at the hands of death. This painting illustrates the influence of the Dutch master painter Heironymous Bosch, who also painted demonic illustrations of death and the supernatural, on Brueghel’s work. Brueghel created a few of these demonological paintings, including Mad Meg, but soon returned to his genre paintings of peasants and landscapes. This painting has also been referred to in popular culture, in books, on the cover of CD albums, and even in video games.