Rembrandt Peale, The Court of Death (1820)

...I seek the shadowy vale
Of DEATH. — Deep in a murky cave's recess
Lav'd by Oblivion's listless stream, and fenc'd
By shelving rocks and intermingled horrors
Of yew' and cypress' shade from all intrusion
Of busy noon-tide beam, the MONARCH sits
In unsubstantial Majesty enthron'd.
At his right hand, nearest himself in place
And frightfulness of form, his Parent SIN
With fatal industry and cruel care
Busies herself in pointing all his stings,
And tipping every shaft with venom drawn
From her infernal store: around him rang'd
In terrible array and strange diversity
Of uncouth shapes, stand his dread Ministers:
Foremost Old Age, his natural ally
And firmest friend; next him diseases thick,
A motley train; Fever with cheek of fire;
Consumption wan; Palsy, half warm with life,
And half a clay-cold lump; joint-tort'ring Gout,
And ever-gnawing Rheum; Convulsion wild;
Swoln Dropsy; parting asthma; Apoplex
Full-gorg'd. — There too the Pestilence that walks
In darkness, and the Sickness that destroys
At broad noon-day. — These and a thousand more,
Horrid to tell, attentive wait; and, when
By Heaven's command DEATH waves his ebon wand,
Sudden rush forth to execute his purpose,
And scatter desolation o'er the Earth.
--from 

Death: a Poetical Essay. By Beilby Porteus, M.A. Fellow of Christ's College (1759)

The idea of the picture was suggested to the artist by a passage from the poem on death by Bishop Porteus. Death is personified by a dark, dim, shadowy figure in the center. His foot rests upon the corpse of a youth stricken down in the vigor of health. The feet and head of the corpse touch the waters of oblivion to indicate the mystery surrounding the beginning and end of life. On either side of the central figure are Death's principal agents, on the right War, attended by Conflagration and followed by Famine and Pestilence. War tramples upon the widow and orphan of his victim. On the left Pleasure kneels, enticing with her cup of intoxicants Intemperance, who stands next to her. From her urn rises the bewildering incense which obscures the presence of Death. Behind her is Remorse, his face covered with his hands. At the left of Intemperance are Suicide and Delirium Tremens. Still further to the left are other figures representing Consumption, Despair, Fever, Apoplexy, etc. Old age, bending under the infirmity of years, approaches Death. Having lived a Christian life, he meets the dread monarch with extended arms and cheerful resignation. This is a portrait of the painter's father, Charles Wilson PealeThe beautiful female figure supporting him is Hope, and this is the gem of the entire composition.


Canvas: h. 11 ft. 6 In., 1. 23 ft. 5 In. This Immense allegorical picture was painted in rivalry with Benj. West's famous "Death on the Pale Horse," now in the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. For many years it was carried about the country, being exhibited in all the leading cities, and earned for Us owners a great deal of money. It later fell into the possession of the late Mr. S. A. Coale, a wellknown connoisseur, of St. Louis, from whom it was purchased in 1885 by Mr. George H. Scripps, who presented it to the Museum


HANDBOOK OF THE PAINTINGS ANCIENT AND MODERN, BELONGING TO THE DETROIT MUSEUM OF ART DETROIT:

Compiled By James E. Scripps. 1895

1 had previously painted the "Court of Death.'1 This was a picture twenty-four feet long, consisting of twenty-three figures—a pictorial discourse on life and death, being an attempt by personification to show the reality and necessity of death, and the charms of virtue, contrasted with vice and intemperance, and the horrors of war. It was the first attempt, in modern times, to produce moral impressions on the ancient Greek plan, without the aid of mythology, or conventional allegory, being as readily understood by the ignorant as the learned; and was the first public appeal in favor of temperance, before the establishment of societies for its promotion. It was exhibited with extraordinary success in our principal cities, and was recommended from several pulpits, and by the Corporation of New-York. Among the poetic effusions it has elicited the first stanza of one by Dr. Godman, is thus complimentary to the Artist. Shall I quote it?

THE COURT OF DEATH.

"Though the unsparing hand of time

Flings o'er earth his mantle gray •
Though towns and towers—though rocks sublime

Perish beneath his all-consuming sway ;—
Man! glorious in his strength! man, creature of a day,

Imparts to perishable things a charm

That doth the desolating power disarm,
And snatch from Glory's sun a never dying ray!

--in C. Edwards Lester, Artists of America, no. 5, 1846