Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on loan
General Collection
The Watts Gift
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/george-frederic-watts-586" aria-label="More by George Frederic Watts" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">George Frederic Watts</a> and assistants
Court Death
Presented by George Frederic Watts 1902
adults
animals: mammals
baby
birth to death
book - non-specific
children
clothing and personal items
court
crown
crutch
curtain
death - angel
disability
diseases and conditions
drapery
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
furnishings
hope
illness
interiors
king
knight
lion
man
man, old
medical
military
mystery
objects
people
public and municipal
reading, writing, printed matter
religious and ceremonial
royalty and social rank
silence
sunrise
sword
symbols and personifications
throne
times of the day
universal concepts
weapons
woman
work and occupations
<p>This painting was intended for the chapel of a paupers’ cemetery. Death is shown as an enthroned angel, holding a baby which shows, according to Watts, that ‘even the germ of life is in the lap of Death’. Flanking Death are allegorical figures of Silence and Mystery, guarding what lies beyond the veil: sunrise and the star of hope.</p><p>In the foreground a warrior surrenders his sword and a duke his coronet, showing that worldly status offers no protection. But Death also offers refuge: a man with crutches finds relief from pain, while a pale, sick woman rests her head.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
28 July 2014
28 July 2014
2014-07-28
Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village (Compton, UK)
http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk
2014-07-28
Long loan to Watts Gallery
Loan-out
The Court of Death
support: 4285 × 2740 × 45 mm
frame: 4525 × 2985 × 70 mm
Presented by <a href="/search?gid=999999783" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">George Frederic Watts</a> 1902
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<span class="text6">This <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> was intended for the  chapel of a      paupers’ cemetery. Death is shown as an enthroned angel, holding  a      baby which shows, according to Watts, that ‘even the germ of life is      in the lap  of Death’. Flanking Death are <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/allegory" title="Glossary definition for 'Allegory'"><span>allegorical</span></a> figures of      Silence and Mystery, guarding what lies beyond the veil: sunrise and  the      star of hope. </span>
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<span class="text14">In the foreground a warrior surrenders his</span><span class="text6"> sword and a duke his coronet, showing that worldly status      offers no protection. But Death also offers refuge: a man with </span><span class="text15">crutches finds relief from pain, while  a pale, sick woman      rests her head. </span>
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2004-09-10T00:00:00
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adults animals: mammals baby birth to death book - non-specific children clothing and personal items court crown crutch curtain death - angel disability diseases and conditions drapery emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas furnishings hope illness interiors king knight lion man man, old medical military mystery objects people public and municipal reading, writing, printed matter religious and ceremonial royalty and social rank silence sunrise sword symbols and personifications throne times of the day universal concepts weapons woman work and occupations