Old Couple and Death with Bagpipes
The Old Couple and Death with Bagpipes is part of a pair of prints relating to the traditional theme the Dance of Death. In the pendant to this print, a frightening Death, his skull sprouting snakes, approaches a wealthy young couple who fight him as they protect their riches. In this print a poor, elderly couple have lived a long life and willingly follow a Death, crowned with a wreath, who leads them to the tune of his bagpipe. The Dutch painter Werner van den Valckert created a number of etchings early in his career. Several of these are genre subjects that comment on the foolishness of the world.
Artwork Details
- Title: Old Couple and Death with Bagpipes
- Artist: Werner van den Valckert (Dutch, The Hague 1580/85–1627 Amsterdam)
- Date: 1612
- Medium: Etching with engraving; second state of four
- Dimensions: Plate: 6 1/2 × 8 9/16 in. (16.5 × 21.7 cm)
Sheet: 6 7/8 × 8 7/8 in. (17.4 × 22.5 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Purchase, Mary Oenslager Fund and Barbara and Howard Fox Gift, 2016
- Object Number: 2016.494
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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