"The Garden of Death," Hugo Simberg, 1896.
Another Finnish painter, Simberg (1873-1917) was a student of Akseli Gallen-Kallela, who was featured last week.
The Symbolists can sometimes be puzzling, but it's very common for them to be macabre, and we see that here. Simberg gives us a garden tended by skeletons in black robes. It's a great paradoxical scene...a garden usually symbolizes life and rebirth, but here it's tended by Death, who instead of being menacing or imposing, seems gentle. Look at the one holding a flower to his chest!
One source says that this reflect Simberg's view of a sort of Purgatory, but instead of having your sins purged, your soul is nurtured to grow into what it could be, before moving on to a final reward. In that case, Death becomes a gentle nurturer. Interesting take.
Simberg died young, only 44, from what might have been syphilis. Some believe the disease may have been responsible for the dark, macabre themes in his work.
From the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki.
