Unknown
Death Portrait: North Netherlandish School
Details
Artist
Unknown
Title
Death Portrait: North Netherlandish School
Date
About 1530
Medium
Oil on oak panel
Dimensions
34.8 x 26.6 cm
Reference
CVCSC:0382.N
Collection
Status
On Display
This is a very early Northern European deathbed portrait, or Totenbildnis. The earliest known Totenbildnis in Northern European painting is that of Emperor Maximilian I, painted in 1519. The Compton Verney work is very unusual in depicting the deceased naked, as in all other known death portraits of the period the deceased is depicted dressed, usually in a garment known as a Totenhemd.
Death Portrait: North Netherlandish School About 1530 © Compton Verney