Death and Life Contrasted – or, An Essay on Man

Publisher Bowles & Carver British
[1784], reissued after 1793
Not on view
This satirical response to "fast living" centers on a figure whose left side is a skeleton holding a spade before a tombstone lettered with a quote from Romans 6.23, "The wages of sin is death," with other biblical admonishments below. The figure's right side is fashionably dressed living aristocrat standing in a parkland with a temple similar to one at Stowe in Buckinghamshire. Emblems of the Order of the Garter are part of the man's dress and items that refer to gambling and partying are strewn around his buckled shoe. These include part of a "EO" wheel (an 18th century game similar to roulette), dice and a shaker, cards, and a masquerade ticket to the Pantheon in London. A scroll that confirms the man's "Pedigree" suggests that rank offers no protection from mortality.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Death and Life Contrasted – or, An Essay on Man
  • Artist: After Robert Dighton the Elder (British, London ca. 1751–1814 London)
  • Publisher: Bowles & Carver (British, active 1793–1832)
  • Date: [1784], reissued after 1793
  • Medium: Etching and engraving
  • Dimensions: Plate: 13 15/16 × 9 13/16 in. (35.4 × 25 cm)
    Sheet: 14 1/16 × 9 13/16 in. (35.7 × 25 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Clifford A. Furst, by exchange, 1974
  • Object Number: 1974.547.9
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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