Ever heard the famous saying “there are only two certainties in life death and taxes” and it’s true no matter what you pay your way in this world and death always follows you waiting to strike. The one we will probably never know is what does he or she look like. Whether it be a cloaked black figure hanging over you or the feeling of ice as every hair on body stands erect the Grim Reaper comes in many forms. For the people of Mexico, it’s the patron saint of death Saint Muerte, for the Scandinavian in Norse mythology death was personified as Hel, the goddess of death who rules over the realm of Hel. This essay will be exploring different personifications and representations of death during different time periods and how different artists use different techniques to depict death.

The triumph of death - Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1562 …show more content…
The painting depicts a panorama of an army of skeletons causing destruction across and desolate landscape. It is described by the Wall Street Journal as “A harrowing depiction of heel on earth The sea is littered with shipwrecks and there are fires burning in the distance. The skeletons are the personification of deaths army and death is shown as a skeleton riding a pale horse through the middle ground of the painting. In the scene, the army seems to be possessed by the spirit of death and have become animated from their once lifeless state. Bruegel uses a high horizon line to represent a broad scope of deaths destruction. In the foreground of the piece you can see depicted the different social classes if you will. This includes a king, a cardinal, chess players, a loving couple, and a knight all slain. The colours used are a spectrum of oranges, reds and yellows that represent the pain and death of humanity and in the simplest form