Sarony, Major and Knapp (after Rembrandt Peale, 1778 - 1860)

Inspired by a poem by the Bishop of London, Rembrandt Peale’s The Court of Death of 1820 is an allegorical painting about the power of death with figures adapted from European masters representing a broad range of archetypes including Virtue, Hope, Pleasure, War, Famine, Want, Fear, Despair, Desolation, Remorse, Suicide, and Disease. The young man lying at Death’s feet is a reminder that death has power over all while Old Age, supported by Faith, is reaching out to Death with open arms. Peale sold his 13x23 foot painting to a private collector, who then had New York publishing company Sarony, Major and Knapp print a chromolithograph of it, which allowed any person to bring this ‘sermon on canvas’ into their home.

Rembrandt Peale was the second son of Charles Willson Peale, a founder of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He studied first under his father and later under Benjamin West at the Royal Academy in London. A noted portraitist, Peale’s The Court of Death was his greatest historical painting and earned him over $10,000 while on tour. In 1823 he settled in Philadelphia, lecturing, painting, and publishing books on art and art studies. Over the course of his career he produced over 600 paintings.