Image of Death in the Art of Western Europe in the Second Half of the 14th–First Quarter of the 16th Centuries

The image of Death spreads in the Middle Ages in the 14th-15th centuries. The disastrous events of the 14th - 15th centuries, in particular the Great Plague, became a strong catalyst for the spreading of the image of Death in the visual arts. This research aims to investigate the origin, development and interpretation of the three most influential iconographic types of the image of Death - the Legend of Three Dead and Three Living, the Dance of Death and the Triumph of Death. In this paper, first of all, the peculiarities of the emergence of the image of Death in the Middle Ages were revealed. Moreover, this study, based on the literature and the iconographical analysis of the works of art, provides a classification, as well as specific features of the development of these iconographic types, their interpretation and mutual influence. In general, it can be noted that the depiction of Death during the 14th-15th centuries has evolved from a narrative - images of the dead and their dialogue with the living to the personification of Death itself, which, in turn, was influenced by the skeletons depicted in the Legend of the Three Dead and Three Living and the Dance of Death.