"Call no man happy 'til he dies. There's no milk at the bottom of the pail"

Personal Function:
Death and Morbidity

Death fascinates me. Of all of our technological advances in society since the dawn of human existence, we are no closer to understanding what happens when the curtain falls. I believe that death and the dying is the reason human beings invented gods and afterworlds in an attempt be reassured that death is not the end and that our loved ones will reunite with us when it is our time. Of all the art we examined over the course of these few weeks, a great deal of them deals with death in some way or another. If we take a look at Caravaggio's "Sacrifice of Isaac", we might consider that this piece is that of a Religious/Spiritual Expression of Personal Function. However, nonetheless it still involves the matter of death.

1601-02. Oil on canvas, 104 x 135 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

The same thing could said about the countless numbers of paintings and drawings portraying the crucifixion of Christ.

"The Yellow Christ" by Paul Gauguin

1889, oil on canvas. 92.1 x 73.4 cm. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY

"Crucifixion With a Donor" by Hieronymus Bosch

1480-1485. Oil on oak. 74.7 × 61 cm. Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts

"The Descent from the Cross" by Peter Paul Rubens

c. 1611-1614. Oil on wood. 420.5 × 320 cm. Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp.