Sarony, Major, and Knapp
The Court of Death

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • The Court of Death
Date1859
PlaceNew York, United States
MediumChromolithograph on wove paper
DimensionsImage: 15 1/4 × 26 5/8 in. (38.7 × 67.6 cm)
Sheet: 18 7/8 × 28 in. (48 × 71.1 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Fred M. Nevill
Object numberB.90.1
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionThe monumental painting on which this lithograph is based measures more than 11 feet in height and 23 feet in width. Drawing inspiration from a poem, this ambitious composition depicts a central figure of Death surrounded by personifications of its many causes. To the right of center, Old Age, supported by Faith, approaches Death with confidence. Completed in 1820, the painting was exhibited for a fee in numerous cities.
Provenance[The Philadelphia Print Shop, Philadelphia]; purchased by MFAH, 1990.
Exhibition HistoryPetit Museum, Theta Charity Antiques Show, September 18–23, 1996, Houston (LN:96.36)

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed below image: THE COURT OF DEATH. / FROM THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, BY REMBRANDT PEALE (with an additional 40 lines of text explicating the inspiration and iconography of the image)
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

The Voyage of Life: Manhood
James Smillie
c. 1855
Engraving on paper, proof
B.2006.9.3
View of West Point, United States Military Academy
Robert Havell, Jr.
1848
Aquatint, etching, and engraving with watercolor on wove paper
B.89.16
Condor Feeding on Warrior's Corpse, a pair
100 BC–700 AD
Spondylus, turquoise, resin, cotton cord
2010.1289.1,.2
Odd Fellows Appliqué Album Quilt
Mary Ann McCue
c. 1850
Cotton and silk
B.76.62
cropped recto of sheet
Joel Peter Witkin
1984
Gelatin silver print
2012.630
Bye and Bye
Trenton Doyle Hancock
2002
Acrylic, mixed media, and collaged canvas on canvas
2002.309
Selendang
1800–1850
Silk, gold, and silver thread
97.128
Battle of New Orleans and Death of Major General Packenham
Joseph Yeager
c. 1815–1816
Etching, engraving, aquatint, and watercolor on wove paper, state I
B.91.47
Thomas Barrett-Lennard, 17th Lord Dacre
Andrea Soldi
1736–1744
Oil on canvas
2008.30
Pectoral
18th–19th century
Gold
2006.540
Pair of Trophy Head Pendants
100 BC–700 AD
Sodalite, turquoise, spondylus shell, greenstone, shell, resin, cotton cord
2010.990.1,.2