Rywiková , Daniela Speculum Mortis: The Image of Death in Late Medieval Bohemian Painting (review)

Abstract

SEER, 99, 1, JANUARY 2021 176 Rywiková, Daniela. Speculum Mortis: The Image of Death in Late Medieval Bohemian Painting. Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, Boulder, CO, New York and London, 2020. xxiii + 235 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Appendix. Bibliography. Index. $95.00: £65.00. In the Appendix of her masterful and compelling new book, Speculum Mortis, Daniela Rywiková acknowledges that one of the last exhaustive studies of the depiction of death in the medieval Czech Lands, Karel Stejskal’s Výtvarná zobrazení smrti jsou u nás ve 14. století námětově poměrně chudá. Nevyskytuje se mezi nimi tehdy oblíbený výjev Tři mrtví a Tři živí, ani žádný cyklus (Prague, 1987), found that ‘depictions of Death in the fourteenth century Czech lands are quite poor. There isn’t any image of the Legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead among them or cycle’ (p. 205). In the ensuing years, this initial finding has been turned on its head, thanks in no small part to a number of subsequent findings, and some incredible restoration work on the part of conservators. Rywiková has responded to these new findings, first in her 2016 Czech-language Habilitation thesis for Ostrava University of the same name, and now in this English-language edition. Rywiková begins the book with an Introduction (pp. 1–27) that thoroughly covers both the image of Death and the Four Last Things (the Last Judgement, hell, paradise and death) in medieval art generally. This discussion serves to prepare readers with an in-depth background to the subject, but also to centre the art found in the Czech lands within a larger European context. The second chapter, ‘The Death of the Apocalypse’ (pp. 29–37), focuses more specifically on representations of Death specifically as a part of the artistic narrative of the End Times. In the third chapter, ‘Mors triumphans’ (pp. 41–80), Rywiková focuses more specifically on a spectacular series of images uncovered in a Charnel House in Broumov in the Hradec Králové district. The fourth chapter, ‘Memento mori’ (pp. 81–124) looks at representations of the motif of the three living and the three dead in various Bohemian mural paintings. ‘Ars moriendi’, the fifth chapter (pp. 125–54), moves on to discuss the celebrated Krumlov Miscellanea’s depictions of a virtuous life and death. The last full chapter, ‘Danse macabre’ (pp. 155–90) then discusses two differing Dances of Death from Prague. The book ends with an Epilogue (pp. 191–204) that helpfully rounds out the discussion with reference to contemporary meditations of death in art, with reference to the work of Damien Hurst. Speculum Mortis is one of those rare things, a work that not only illuminates the specifics of art in a particular region and time, but does so in such an entertaining and thorough way that it can simultaneously serve as a generalized introduction to the topic. Rywiková’s Introduction, in particular, would work well on its own as a primer on the image of death in fourteenth-century European art for novices. However, the true joy of this work is its in-depth REVIEWS 177 discussions of the more recently discovered artworks in Broumov, Český Krumlov and Prague. Rywiková’s ability to use them to underline not only the importance of the Czech lands in the late medieval period as expressed through these works, but also the ways in which the unique religious environment there is reflected in the work is masterful. Some of Rywiková’s more interesting findings include a fifteenth-century depiction of The Triumph of Death from the Old Prelature of Český Krumlov where death is depicted riding a wooden hobby-horse, combining depictions of deathandthefoolinmedievalartasapotentTriumphofDeath.Herethecadaver serves as a forceful reminder that death can carry off young and old alike, and that ignoring one’s religious obligations can result in the ultimate eschatological death of the soul (pp. 200–01). Rywiková’s study also helps the arguments of other Czech art historians such as Alexander Patschovsky in actively identifying the figure of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg in a Dance with Death in the famous Bible of the Hussite Priest (p. 172) My critiques...