PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES
The art of death
• Consider the history of idealised portrayals of
violent death in western art e.g. ‘The Mourning
of Christ’, Giotto (Renaissance), ‘The Death of
Marat’, Jacques-Louis David (Neoclassical),
‘Ophelia’, John Everett Millais (Pre-Raphaelite).
Suggest reasons why the artists have portrayed
the subject matter in this way.
• Examine artworks based upon human dissection
e.g. Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical studies of
the human body, Vincent Van Gogh‘s ‘Skull of
a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette’, Professor
Gunther von Hagens’ ‘Body Worlds’ exhibition.
Discuss the importance of the study of death to
art, science and medicine.
• Compare and contrast the attitudes towards death
of pre-20th century British poets from different
ages e.g. the Metaphysical poets John Donne
(‘Death, be not proud’) or George Herbert (‘Death’)
with the Romantic poets John Keats (‘When I have
fears’) or Percy Bysshe Shelley (‘On death’).
• Analyse William Shakespeare’s interpretation of
the Vanitas theme in his sonnets (e.g. 12, 18, 71,
73 and 146) and/or that of the contemporary
British artist, James Hopkins, in his installations
(e.g. ‘Wasted Youth’, ‘Decadence and Demise’).
• Consider why sentimental depictions of children’s
deaths in art and literature were so popular in
Victorian Britain e.g. the death of Paul Dombey
in ‘Dombey and Son’, Charles Dickens, and ‘The
Doctor’, Luke Fildes.
The imagery of death
• Explore the personification of death in Geoffrey
Chaucer’s ‘Pardoner’s Tale’, or ‘The Tale of the
Three Brothers’ in JK Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows’: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=IdSpZgE3fD4
folklore and contemporary culture.
•Find out about the origins of Halloween and its
connections to the Day of the Dead festival in
Mexico; consider the similarities in the costumes
and objects used to celebrate both.
Death and war
•Compare and contrast poetry that portrays
death in war as heroic (e.g. ‘The Charge of the
Light Brigade’, Alfred Lord Tennyson) with those
that express the horror and futility (e.g. ‘Died of
Wounds’, Siegfried Sassoon, ‘Dulce et Decorum
est’, Wilfred Owen, and ‘Break of Day in the
Trenches’, Isaac Rosenberg).
• Compare and contrast anti-war artworks by 20th
century artists e.g. ‘The Face of War’, Salvadore
Dali, ‘Guernica’, Pablo Picasso, and ‘War’, Marc
Chagall. Use the internet to research anti-war
works by contemporary artists.
• Find photographs of soldiers and civilians killed in
conflicts today, in newspapers or on the internet.
Discuss the purpose of the images and your
response to them.
POST-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Cabinet of curiosities
• Talk about objects you collect, or collected in the
past. Discuss why you chose the particular theme
or type of objects and what you enjoy(ed) about
collecting. Draw, write or give a presentation
about your collection, or one object in it that is/
was special.
• Collect data on the objects collected by the
class. Record this in the form of a graph, diagram
or artwork. You could use the work of David
McCandless as stimulus: http://www.ted.com/
talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_
visualization.html
• Collect images or examples of all the different
characters, animals, omens and symbols
associated with death in art, literature, mythology,
Wellcome Collection is part of the Wellcome Trust. The Wellcome Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales, no. 210183. Its sole trustee is The Wellcome Trust Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, no. 2711000 (whose registered office is at 215 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE, UK). MP-5420.8/10-2012/MD
‘Tête de Mort’ postcard, c.1900. Richard Harris Collection
Death and diversity
• Research the different practices and rituals
associated with death and mourning in different
cultures.
• Find out more about different ways of
commemorating the dead in our society and in
others.
• Research attitudes towards death, the afterlife
and/or rebirth in different religions.
Creative and personal responses
• Use the exhibition as the stimulus for a piece of
creating writing or an artwork about death.
• Draw or write about your own object of death. It
could be an object that makes you think of death
or that connects you to someone who has died.
• Discuss or debate an ethical, philosophical or
controversial question raised by the exhibition e.g.
What makes a ‘good death’? Is a human corpse
just another object? What can we learn about life
from the study of death?
Wellcome Collection is part of the Wellcome Trust. The Wellcome Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales, no. 210183. Its sole trustee is The Wellcome Trust Limited, a company registered in England and Wales, no. 2711000 (whose registered office is at 215 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE, UK). MP-5420.8/10-2012/MD
‘Tête de Mort’ postcard, c.1900. Richard Harris Collection