LIFE and DEATH contrasted_or, An ESSAY on WOMAN.
Date1784-1793
After work by
Robert Dighton (1752-1814)
Publisher
Bowles & Carver
fl. 1793 - 1832
Publisher
Henry Carington Bowles
1763 - 1830
Publisher
Samuel Carver
1756 - 1841
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 number1962-294,2
DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "LIFE and DEATH contrasted_or, An ESSAY on WOMAN./ Printed for & Sold by Bowles & 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 left side of the print is filled with imagery representing vanity, materialism and secular pursuits that were contrary to the contemporary ideals about virtuous living. A fashionably dressed woman holds a fan. The objects scattered at her feet suggest her vices: playing cards and an invitation to a card party; a romance novel, tickets to a masquerade ball, and a book on gaming. The left side of the print reveals the woman's skeleton holding an arrow, a symbol associated with the figure of death. A skull crawling with worms and a bone rest by her foot. A willow tree and graves are visible in the distance. The monument next to her is inscribed with passages from the Bible and Book of Common Prayer about living a virtuous life. A quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Act 5, Scene 1) appears at the base of the monument, "Now get you to my Lady's table and tell her, let her paint an inch thick to this complexion she must come at last."
The companion piece (1962-294,1) offers the same moral message with a male subject.
ProvenanceBefore 1962, the Old Print Shop (New York, NY); 1962-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).
