Death and the Maiden (motif)

Death and the Maiden (Der Tod und das Mädchen in German) was a common motif in Renaissance art, especially in German painting and printmaking.

The usual form shows just two figures, with a young woman being seized by a personification of Death, often shown as a skeleton.

It developed from the Danse Macabre with an added erotic subtext.

The German artist Hans Baldung depicted it several times.

[1] The motif was revived during the romantic era in the arts, a notable example being Franz Schubert's song "Der Tod und das Mädchen", setting a poem by the German poet Matthias Claudius.