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PAG2-chavannes-death-jpg

This halftone reproduction of Chavanne’s 1879 painting is also known as “Death and the Maidens.” The image depicts a group of white-robed young women in a field with the black figure of Death sleeping on the grass in front of them, in the left foreground. He is lying on his left arm with his right arm curled up by his face. He is wearing his dark robes and his scythe lies on the ground in front of him, crossing under his left wrist. To his right, two women in long white gowns appear in three-quarter profile. The one nearest Death looks down at him while he sleeps. She carries wildflowers in the folds of her robes. She holds the hand of the other young woman over her left shoulder. The other woman turns her back to Death, looking at a flower she holds up in her left hand. In the left background, four other women are gathered. One sits on the ground with her back to the viewer. She holds flowers in her raised hands. The other three women are dancing. The one closest to the left faces the viewer and holds her arms up against the woman in the centre. The woman in the middle has swung towards the first woman, holding her up on the left. Her hair flies up behind her and one of her breasts is exposed. The third dancer, to the right, has her back to the viewer. She leans towards the right and pulls on the left arm of the woman in the centre. They appear to be playfully spinning each other around as they dance. There are scattered flowers on the grass where they gather. In the background, a hill of dark woods is depicted on the right side of the image. Further behind and in the upper left corner of the image, tall mountains appear.