Skeletons, also known as Allegory of Death and Fame (1518)
Designed by Rosso Fiorentino; engraved by Agostino Veneziano (Italian, 1490–1540)
For centuries, scholars have debated the allegorical meaning of this print. Giorgio Vasari, 16th-century artist and author, described it simply as "an anatomy of desiccated bodies and of bones of the dead." A central figure of winged Death stands over an interred skeleton, surrounded by skeletal and living human figures who appear to debate the fate of the soul.
At far left stands a "marasmic" man — a sun-dried body used by anatomists to study musculature without removing the skin. Rosso Fiorentino, a Florentine contemporary of Michelangelo who designed this composition, had planned a book on anatomy that was never published. This print is all that remains of that ambition.
A meditation on mortality that holds its own on any wall — unsettling, erudite, and impossible to ignore.
Rectangle Canvas Wrap
Gallery-quality canvas with fade-resistant inks and a 1.25" deep pine frame sourced from renewable forests. Arrives wrapped and ready to hang.
- Materials: cotton and polyester composite canvas, pine wood frame
- Inner frame: radiata pine from renewable forests
- Leveling bumpers included for wall protection
- Ready to hang — mounting hardware pre-attached
Care: Dust gently with a clean, damp cloth as needed.