This work of art is a fresco (a mural done with water colors on wet plaster) that covers an entire wall in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. The artist may have been Antonio Pisano, know as Pisanello, but nobody knows for sure. Whoever he was, he drew himself into the painting — he’s the gentleman on the left holding a paintbrush and staring out at the viewer. The best guess of when it was completed is “around 1450.”
The central figure is Death riding a skeletal horse. He’s passing by the poor and sickly people and stomping to death the wealthy and the members of the clergy. (Those already dead are pretty much the same color as the horse.) On the right are men and women living in luxury. They’re aware of death’s approach but can do nothing about it and don’t even seem to be trying very hard. Lengthy studies have been done on the fashions worn by the rich in this painting, but I’ll spare you the details.
The title might refer to the 13th card in a tarot deck. In the Middle Ages, tarot cards were very popular and were known as “triumphs.”
I’m not sure about the philosophy of this painting — I’m pretty sure the poor and sick die too. But it does make a good point about the inevitability of death. I don’t see any indication of the life offered by God, but that may have been the theme of the painting on the next wall, I don’t know. But here’s the thing that most interested me about this piece and is the reason I chose to include it on my list — it was originally painted on a wall in a hospital. Cheery, no?