Melior est mors quam vita, Eccle. 30 [graphic] / H.B. i. [center plate] ; W.H. [center plate] ; Ab. a Diepenbecke inu. [border] ; W. Hollar fecit 1651 [border].

Melior est mors quam vita, Eccle. 30 [graphic] / H.B. i. [center plate] ; W.H. [center plate] ; Ab. a Diepenbecke inu. [border] ; W. Hollar fecit 1651 [border].

Pennington item title: Old woman
Pennington set title: Dance of death

[Antwerp] : [s.n.], [1651]

1 print : etching ; exterior platemark 116 x 93 mm

paper

Center plate: A bent old woman walks to right with a wreath-crowned skeleton behind. Another skeleton goes before playing on a dulcimer.--From Pennington.

Border: The same architectural frame as in Pennington 233A, but with Minerva as a caryatid on left and Hercules on right. At top is a skull with a triple crown and the crowns and headgear of popes, cardinals, emperors and peers on either side. At bottom is a skull and cross-bones with tools of industry on the left and weapons of war on right.--Adapted from Pennington.

This print was made with two separate plates - one for the central scene and one for the decorative border.

Pennington, R. Descriptive catalogue of the etched work of Wenceslaus Hollar, 260 (center plate), 233B (border)

Belgium -- Antwerp.

ART Box H737.5 no.23 pt.6w (size L)

216659