Opera Mortis - The Works of Death

The Simulacra & Natural History of Death's Labors & Hours of Work

Published in 2016, $365

Inspired by Les Simulachres & historiees faces de la Mort (1538) by Hans Holbein the Younger, this dance of death comes as a natural history with human, skeletal death embedded in all manner of beasts. The binomial nomenclature is derived from common Latin terms: Quid proquo, Habeas corpus, Et cetera. Quatrains, etched along with the images, describe the occupations of death from Pope to artist.

The accordion-bound book measures 5" x 5" and contains 24 pages of relief etchings (recto and verso). Housed in a four-flap chemise, the book can be displayed as a 12-point star revealing all the etchings in equilateral triangles. Magnets in the chemise hold the star-display at key points. Edition of 365.