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COMING TO AN END: A reflective journey on death and dying at the Ashmolean Museum

Unknown Artist, The Death of the Buddha, or Mahaparinirvana, grey schist, c.200 CE.

Unknown Artist, The Death of the Buddha, or Mahaparinirvana, grey schist, c.200 CE.

 

Participated in the trail already? We would love to hear your thoughts. Let us know via this form. Thank you!


INTRODUCTION

Glass case with a mummy of a child inside. Beside it, a sculpture made out of glass sheets

Floor G, Gallery 27, Egypt Meets Greece and Rome. Image copyright © Angela Palmer

 

A museum is a good place to think about death and dying.

Museums are filled with the belongings and material residue of long-dead people: their images, the contents of their graves, the art they created, bought and sold, the memorials that were made to remember them, even their bodies.

This sculpture (Gallery 27, Egypt Meets Greece and Rome) by Angela Palmer comprises a series of drawings made on 111 glass sheets, each of which describes the outline of a cross-section taken from a CT scan of the body of the child who lies, mummified, in the adjacent case.

There are few objects in the museum more familiar than Egyptian mummies, yet few more alien than the bodies they contain. On this walk through the Ashmolean, you are invited to consider both the familiar and the alien, the ubiquity of death and its strange otherness, and the role of the medical professionals who are our inevitable partners in facing it. You will draw from the experience of long histories and diverse cultures, using the collections as prompts to reflect on the approaching end of life, the processes of dying and the aftermath of death.

This walk is not about art history, and there are no right answers to the questions posed here. You may want to ask other questions. If so, let us know what they are, via email.

Click on each section to interact with individual themes.

ENCOUNTERING DEATH

Anthony Van Dyck, The Deposition, oil on canvas, c.1619 (Floor 2, Gallery 46, Baroque Art).        

 Anthony Van Dyck, The Deposition, oil on canvas, c.1619

After Jacopo Sansovino, The Dead Christ, painted terracotta, early 17th century (Floor 2, Gallery 46, Baroque Art). 

After Jacopo Sansovino, The Dead Christ, painted terracotta, early 17th century

 Death and the Everyday

Philips Angel, Still Life of Game, with Four Plovers, oil on panel, c.1650 (Floor 2, Gallery 48, Still-Life Paintings).

Philips Angel, Still Life of Game, with Four Plovers, oil on panel, c.1650

Jacques de Claeuw, Still Life, oil on panel, c.1660 (Floor 2, Gallery 48, Still-Life Paintings)

Jacques de Claeuw, Still Life, oil on panel, c.1660

The Death of a Child 

Joshua Reynolds, Penelope Boothby, oil on canvas, 1788 (Floor 2, Gallery 52, Arts of the 18th Century).

Joshua Reynolds, Penelope Boothby, oil on canvas, 1788

Gravestone of a Muslim Girl, possibly Ghariba, the daughter of Makhluf al-Jala (Floor 1, Gallery 31, Islamic Middle East).

Gravestone of a Muslim Girl, possibly Ghariba, the daughter of Makhluf al-Jala

 The Public and Private Aspects of Death

Unknown carvers, Jali Screens, sandstone, early 19th century (Floor 1, Gallery 33, Mughal India).

 Jali screens

Unknown artists, Toy Soldiers, Vizagapatam, brass, c.1795 CE (Floor 1, Gallery 33, Mughal India).

Toy Soldiers, Vizagapatam, brass,

Suffering Before and After Death

Unknown artists, Figure of the Bodhisattva, Jizō, polychromed wood, 16th century (Floor 2, Gallery 36, Japan from 1850).

 Figure of the Bodhisattva, Jizō, polychromed wood,

Unknown Artist, The Death of the Buddha, or Mahaparinirvana, grey schist, c.200 CE (Floor G, Gallery 12, India to AD600).

The Death of the Buddha, or Mahaparinirvana, grey schist,

 THE NEEDS OF THE DEAD

Tang Dynasty ceramic grave goods, c.7th - 10th century CE (Floor G, Gallery 10, China to AD800).

Tang Dynasty ceramic grave goods

Unknown maker, Modified Human Skull, Jericho, c.7000 BCE (Floor G, Gallery 19, Ancient Middle East).

Modified Human Skull, Jericho, c.7000 BCE


Celebrating Life

Jacopo Robusti, known as Tintoretto, The Resurrection of Christ, oil on canvas, c.1550-70 (Floor 2, Gallery 43, Italian Renaissance).

Jacopo Robusti, known as Tintoretto, The Resurrection of Christ, oil on canvas,

Unknown Flemish Painter, The Adoration of the Shepherds, oil on panel, c.1560-70 (Floor 2, Gallery 43, Italian Renaissance).

The Adoration of the Shepherds, oil on panel, c.1560-70

 All images © The Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, unless mentioned otherwise.

 

Participated in the trail already? We would love to hear your thoughts. Let us know via this form. Thank you!

'Coming to an End- An interactive Museum Experience' trail adapted for the Being Human Festival with support from- Dr Gina Hadley, Dr Jim Harris, Dr Alberto Giubilini, Dr Mehrunisha Suleman, Dr Halina Suwalowska, Dr Mackenzie Graham, Eleanor Kerfoot, Milly Farrell, Sanskruti Biswal, Culture&.

Original award winning trail 'Diversity in Death and Dying' designed for medical students by- Dr Gina Hadley, Professor Gabriele De Luca, Dr Jim Harris, Dr Ashley Moyse. More information here.

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