Death in Art

Though we often see death depicted in art, it is rare to see a glimpse into the relationship between the doctor and his dying patient and the doctor and the grip of death. It is rarer still to see an accurate portrayal of death. This one, Fildes’ (1891) “The Doctor” for example, shows parents laden with grief, the thoughtful and compassionate physician and a peacefully dying child, almost as if she’s drifted off into an endless sleep.

Those of us at the bedsides of the dying know that we rarely see this sense of graceful “slipping away” that art wants to offer us. What is it that we are grappling with when we consider this idea, of the gentle and peaceful death, that we so fiercely cling to as humans?

Do we learn something about Death from considering it in art? Do we learn something about the universal stance of humans to hope for this fragile peace, attended to by our doctor in our own home, grieving loved ones at our side? If we were to paint a modern version of “The Doctor”, over 100 years later, what would it look like?