This exhibition showcased some 300 works from a unique collection devoted to the iconography of death and our complex attitudes towards it – diverse art works, historical artefacts, scientific specimens and ephemera from across the world.
Death: A Self Portrait exhibition, Dave Sayer. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Rare prints by Rembrandt, Dürer and Goya were displayed alongside anatomical drawings, war art and antique metamorphic postcards. Human remains were juxtaposed with Renaissance ‘vanitas’ paintings and 20th-century installations celebrating Mexico’s Day of the Dead. From a group of ancient Incan skulls to a spectacular chandelier made of 3,000 plaster-cast bones, this singular collection illuminated our enduring desire to make peace with death.