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First skeleton identified as that of a woman, by Bell (1798)
This image is an engraving of the first illustration of a female skeleton, after J. J. Sue (1710-1792).
Four skeletons with musical instruments, seated in various positions, by Gamelin (1779)
This etching represents four skeletons. From left to right, the first skeleton sings, the second plays the violin, the fourth is sitting with its legs crossed and resting its skull on its hand and the fourth one plays the cello. All skeletons are…
Gender of symbolic hands
Hands to suggest action are common in emblems and other symbolic images. Unless they are specifically attributed to God, they are hands of ungendered agents. It is difficult to interpret hands as not masculine given the idea of action they…
Gods of the Modern World, by Orozco (1932)
Although this is a modern mural, it represents an image of traditional and older authority in the form of men with academic positions versus a woman in the act of giving birth. All of these are depicted as skeletons, including the babies. Despite so,…
Hallstatt Charnel House, Austria, by Unknown (1720)
These images depict the ossuary in St. Michael's Chapel in Hallstatt, Austria. What is interesting about this ossuary is that over 600 painted skulls are displayed. According to Hallstatt World Heritage site…
Heart (feminized?) as a generic symbol of the human soul
Against the Catholic tradition of differentiating the hearts of Jesus and Maria with different attributes (crowns vs. swords), there is a clear tendency to present a neutral or even feminized (very rounded) hearts to represent the human soul as…
Illustration in an edition of Vesalius' De Humani Corporis fabrica Epitome,with annotations by Fontani (1642)
This illustration depicts a naked young man on the left holding an apple in his left hand, and a naked young woman on the right covering her lower abdomen with her right hand. On the ground between the two people, what appears to be a skull and a…
John Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel tomb, by Unknown (1435, c.)
Tomb of John Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, at Fitzalan Chapel, church of St Nicholas in Arundel Castle, Arundel, UK. It is a two-tier tomb: on the upper tier, John Fitzalan is portrayed in flesh and bones and dressed in his armor. On the lower tier, he…
Life and death, by Unknown (1790, c.)
"A woman, standing, divided vertically into two, the right side showing her in life, the left side showing her after her death, as a skeleton. The right side shows the pleasures of life: red ribbons in her powdered hair, jewellery, a bouquet in her…
Life is short, by Borja (1680)
The hand represented in the emblem is smalll and delicate, perhaps female, to emphasize that the measure of a palm is small, just like life is, as indicated by the title in Latin (Vita Brevis "life is short"). The fragmentation of the body except for…