Death and the Maiden
1517
Hans Baldung Grien serves up a grim reminder that beauty is fleeting in this striking Northern Renaissance panel. A pale, wide-eyed maiden stands frozen as a decaying, brown corpse embraces her from behind, aggressively grabbing a handful of her flowing hair while pointing a bony finger downward. The inscription at the top, 'Hie must du an' (roughly 'Here you must submit' or 'This is your lot'), drives home the classic *Memento Mori* theme: death comes for everyone, eventually ruining the party. Baldung, a student of Albrecht Dürer, was famously obsessed with the macabre, witches, and the inevitability of the end, making this a perfect example of his dark imagination.