The Plague
1898 · Tempera on fir wood · Kunstmuseum Basel
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About this work
- Artist
- Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901)
- Year
- 1898
- Medium
- Tempera on fir wood
- Original size
- 149.5 × 105.1 cm
- Collection
- Kunstmuseum Basel
- Movement
- Symbolism
Death, a grey-green corpse with a scythe, rides through a narrow town street on the back of a black-winged creature with a long spiked tail. Below, a woman in a red dress lies across the body of another woman in white, a man slumps against a wall at left, and further down the street people flee. According to the art historian Heinrich Alfred Schmid, Böcklin was prompted by news of plague in Bombay in 1898, but he had already worked out the composition in 1876 in sketches for a never-painted picture, The Cholera. Painted three years before his death, it is on deposit at the Kunstmuseum Basel.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Pale green, black and a single flash of red make a disturbing image for a study, library or hallway, not a bedroom. Pair it with Böcklin's Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle and hang this one at 16×24 in a black frame.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Symbolism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1898)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; dark wood warms it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Plague in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Plague painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
