About the Artwork
Rembrandt Peale chose to paint a subject intended to be a moral statement for contemporary times. The work is based on a poem by an Anglican bishop describing how mortal man is called by death. To the far left of the central figure of Death are War and his agents, who trample over the bodies of his victims, a widow and an orphan. To Death’s right is a mass of humanity representing sins from intemperance to suicide, all of which are associated with those who have died from leading decadent lives. Below the feet of Death is the body of a man cut down in the prime of life, which demonstrates the power Death holds over everyone. Approaching the central figure is Old Age, who is supported by Faith and, after leading a long, productive, and pious life, welcomes Death with outstretched arms.
The Court of Death
1820
Rembrandt Peale
1778-1860
American
Unknown
Oil on canvas
Unframed: 11 feet 6 inches × 23 feet 5 inches (3 m 50.5 cm × 7 m 13.7 cm) Framed: 12 feet 8 inches × 24 feet 7 inches × 7 inches (3 m 86.1 cm × 7 m 49.3 cm × 17.8 cm)
Paintings
American Art before 1950
Gift of George H. Scripps
85.3
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
1858, G. Q. Cotton (Philadelphia, Pennsylavania, USA).by 1879, sold to Samuel A. Coale, Jr. (St. Louis, Missouri, USA);
1885, purchased by George H. Scripps (Detroit, Michigan, USA);
1885-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Dunlap. Arts of Design II. New York, 1834, p. 54.
Tuckerman, H. T. Book of the Artists. New York, 1867, p. 62.
Benjamin, S.G.W. Art in America. New York, 1880, p. 28.
Strahan, Edward, ed. Art Treasures of America. Philadelphia, 1880, p. 54.
Isham, Samuel. American Painting. New York, 1905, p. 125.
Bulletin of the DMA 4, no. 3 (1910): p. 139 (ill.).
Bulletin of the DMA 4 (1910): p. 38.
Bryant, Lorinsa Munson. What Pictures to See in America. New York, 1915, pp. 234-235.
LaFollette, S. Art in America. 1929, p. 71.
Exhibition of Paintings by Rembrandt Peale. Exh. cat., Municipal Museum of Baltimore. Baltimore, 1937, no. 8.
The World of the Romantic Artist. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1944, no. 29.
Bulletin of the DIA 23, no. 7 (1944): p. 57 (ill.).
Barker, Virgil. American Painting. New York, 1950, pp. 335-336 (pl. 46).
Sellers, Charles Coleman. “The Pale Horse on the Road.” Antiques (May 1954): p. 385.
The Peale Family: Three Generations of American Artists. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1967, p. 114, no. 167 (ill.).
Canaday, John. The Lives of the Painters, vol. 4. London, 1969, (pl. 216).
American Narrative Painting. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum. Los Angeles, 1974, p. 11 (fig. 3).
Miller, L.B. “The Peale Family.” Smithsonian 10 (April 1979): p. 72 (ill.).
Craven, W. “The Grand Manner in Early 19th Century Painting.” American Art Journal (April 1979): p. 41 (ill.).
Benjamin West and His American Students. Exh. cat., National Portrait Gallery. Washington, D.C., 1980, no. 147 (ill.).
Bellion, Wendy. Citizen Spectator: Art, Illusion, and Visual Perception in Early National America. Chapel Hill, 2011, p. 285 (fig. 69).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Rembrandt Peale, The Court of Death, 1820, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of George H. Scripps, 85.3.
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