DEATH and LIFE contrasted_or, An ESSAY on MAN.

Date1784-1793

After work by Robert Dighton (1752-1814)

Publisher Bowles & Carver fl. 1793 - 1832

Publisher Samuel Carver 1756 - 1841

Publisher Henry Carington Bowles 1763 - 1830

OriginEngland, London

MediumLine engraving and etching on laid paper

DimensionsOH: 14" x OW: 10"; Plate H: 13 3/4" x W: 9 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1962-294,1

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "DEATH and LIFE contrasted_or, An ESSAY on MAN./ Printed for & Sold by Bowles and Carver, N.o 69 in S.t Paul's Church Yard, London."Label TextThis print follows in the European tradition of "memento mori," reminding viewers to "remember death." The right side of the print is filled with imagery representing vanity, materialism and secular pursuits that were contrary to the contemporary ideals about virtuous living. It shows a man dressed in fine clothing, wearing emblems of his rank and wealth against a landscape. Objects scattered about his feet include a document titled "Pedigrees," tickets to various events including one to a masquerade at fashionable London social club the Pantheon, a copy of the popular society magazine The Rambler, cards, dice, and other accessories for gaming.

The left side of the print reveals the man's skeleton leaning on a shovel with broken bones at his feet. A simple monument quotation from the Bibles and the writings of Alexander Pope and Abraham Cowley.

The companion piece (1962-294,2) offers the same moral message with a female subject.
ProvenanceBefore 1962, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1962-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).