Yanis Rozentāls
"Death", 1897

At first glance, without knowing the title, the scene might even seem tender: a peasant woman in white approaches a mother seated at the edge of a forest, leaning in to kiss the infant in her arms.

But slowly, the details begin to form a chilling sequence.

On the canvas, a woman holds her lifeless child as a tall, gaunt figure—Death—bends over the baby, a scythe in hand, draped in white. The artist likely draws from Latvian mythology. In legend, after death, the soul is met by Veļu māte—the Mother of Souls—who guides the departed to the land of the spirits. Though the infant has already passed, the mother refuses to let go, glaring at Death with eyes filled with raw hatred.

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