Axial Commons Image Treasury
Hand-coloured etching of a woman, half dressed in blue gown and half skeleton, beside an inscribed obelisk, with a skull and bone at her feet.

Life and Death Contrasted, or An Essay on Woman

A hand-coloured etching shows a woman split down the middle: one side richly dressed in a blue gown with a fan and lace collar, the other a skeleton holding a dart. She stands beside a tall inscribed obelisk on a plinth, with a book, skull and bone at her feet.

Artist
Robert Dighton
Date
[between 1700 and 1799]
Medium
Memento mori (images) Etchings
Source
Wellcome Collection
Size
2949 × 4000 px
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Public domain · Wellcome Collection marks it Public Domain Mark; made by 1799.
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: Public Domain Mark (Wellcome Collection)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): Wellcome Collection

Vanitas and Memento MoriAnatomy and Medicine18th centurymemento morivanitasetchingallegoryhand-colored printskeletonwomandeathobeliskmortality

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