Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle

A bearded painter with brush and palette listens while a skeleton behind his shoulder plays a violin. The figure holds the centre of the canvas, and everything around it, from the fall of the light to the setting, is there to bring it forward. Look closely and the details carry as much of its character as the face itself.

Its palette, measured from the canvas, is led by ink, with chocolate and umber in support: a low-lit, quietly neutral picture. Its restrained colour lets the drawing and the light carry the picture, and it sits easily with almost any interior. The tall format leads the eye from top to bottom, so the details reward a second and a third look.

A tall canvas like this one suits a narrow wall: a hallway, the space beside a bookcase or a doorway, or the wall between two windows. It brings a little theatre to a room for the autumn season, and keeps its mystery all year. Ink and chocolate are easy to echo in cushions, a throw or a painted wall nearby, and it holds its own in a mixed gallery wall.

Arnold Böcklin made the original in 1872; in the collection it is listed under Symbolism. It has the dreamlike air of Symbolism, where figures and objects hint at meanings beyond what they show. This painting is printed to order on gallery-wrapped canvas in 30 × 40 cm or 40 × 60 cm, from the image you see here. The canvas wraps around its frame, so it arrives ready to hang, with no framing needed. Want yourself in it instead? Add a photo and see your portrait free before you order.