Young couple threatened by death (The promenade)

The interrelated themes of witches, death and disaster were topical in German and Netherlandish printmaking during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.  

Here, a charming image of an elegantly dressed young couple, strolling in a serene landscape, is given a sinister overtone by the presence of the figure of death peering out from behind a tree. Artists often personified death as a skeletal figure lurking in the shadows. Shown holding an hourglass – a traditional symbol of the passing of time – the presence of death serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of worldly, particularly carnal, pleasures. 

Julie Robinson, Senior Curator, Prints, Drawings & Photographs