The Court of Death, Rembrandt Peale, 1820

The court of death was based on a poem from 1772, death: a poetical essay, by anglican bishop beilby porteus. The figures in the monumental painting were life-size. Death is surrounded by personifications including despair, fever, consumption, hypochondria, apoplexy, gout, dropsy, suicide, delirium tremens, intemperance, remorse, pleasure, pestilence, famine, war, and conflagration. To the right, a warrior, an orphaned infant, and a widow show some of the people afflicted. In the foreground, old age is supported by faith. Object Type: painting. Date: 1820. Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Detroit Institute of Arts. Court-of-death-peale-1820