This really caught my eye this morning when I was paging through my volume The Complete Woodcuts Of Albrecht Durer, edited by Dr. Willi Kurth, which I just received by mail a few days ago. The image of death with an hourglass confronting a knight is very familiar to me. I could not find much on this woodcut in books or on Google, but I did see that it resides in the British Museum; I will provide you with the link here, because you can really see it perfectly (be sure to open it up). It appears as if the olde chap`s days are numbered, and that the skinny ol` boy has come to stake `is claim on `is soul; not such good news for the knight, but it seems to come up for all of us souls eventually. Lo & behold though, Shakespeare refers to the woodcut in a sonnet (you will have to scroll down a ways until you see it)! This is from Durer`s (here is some good general information) mature period for woodcuts, circa 1510. I am seeing this as more Northern and not influenced by his trips to Italy. This is cold, harsh stuff, and is more Teutonic from my point of view. Moreover, this compliments the severity of the medium of woodcuts for its rigidity, by way of the gruesome news-bearing skeleton, mocking the innocent with the transience of the hourglass! Somber carvings for the last Friday before Thanksgiving. It seems as if a bit of Halloween is bleeding into my Thanksgiving!
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