Year 1480 (1480) Artist Albertus Pictor | Medium oil on canvas Created 1480 | |
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Location Swedish Museum of History, Tebyu, Sweden; Stockholm Similar Třeboň Altarpiece, Advent and Triumph of Christ, A Game of Chess, Portrait of a Violinist, Marienaltar | ||
Death playing chess (in Swedish: Döden spelar schack) is a monumental painting in Täby Church located just outside Stockholm, Sweden. It was painted around 1480–1490, by the Swedish medieval painter Albertus Pictor.
A copy of the mural is stored in the collections of the Swedish Museum of History in Stockholm.
Analysis
The artist was born with the name Albrecht Manhusen village in Hesse. It is assumed that Albertus was educated in southern Germany.
He is one of the most significant medieval Swedish artists. His works represent a unique combination of quality and quantity. He painted 36 churches in Malardalen and Norrbotten. He stands out as the most active artist in the Swedish church painting in the second half of the 15th century. He differs from other artists of the same period with its bright expression. His painting covers unusual breadth and diversity in technical performance. This mural represents how a knight plays chess with death. Skillfully depicts figures with precise anatomical proportions, and combines them with clothes and weapons, which gives a relatively realistic vision.
The mural inspired Ingmar Bergman to create the film "The Seventh Seal" in 1957.