La Danza della Morte, di Hans Holbein (1538)

An idea of the Middle-Ages through 'The Dance of Death', Hans Holbein's masterpiece of the
macabre, originally published in Lyons in 1538. Music by Tomaso da Celano, 'Dies Irae'

Bern Cathedral Switzerland-Triumph of Death

Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini "Wedding" Portrait

The following excerpt is from Gardner's Art Through the Ages (pp. 576-578). "The intersection of the secular and religious in Flemish painting also surfaces in Jan van Eyck's double portrait Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride. Van Eyck depicts the Lucca financier (who had established himself in Bruges as an agent of the Medici family) and his betrothed in a Flemish bedchamber that is simultaneously mundane and charged with the spiritual. As in the Mérode Altarpiece , almost every object portrayed conveys the event's sanctity, specifically, the holiness of matrimony. Arnolfini and his bride, Giovanna Cenami, hand in hand, take the marriage vows. The cast-aside clogs indicate this event is taking place on holy ground. The little dog symbolizes fidelity (the common canine name Fido originated from the Latin fido, "to trust"). Behind the pair, the curtains of the marriage bed have been opened. The bedpost's finial (crowning ornament) is a tiny statue of Saint Margaret, patron saint of childbirth. From the finial hangs a whisk broom, symbolic of domestic care. The oranges on the chest below the window may refer to fertility, and the all-seeing eye of God seems to be referred to twice. It is symbolized once by the single candle burning in the left rear holder of the ornate chandelier and again by the mirror, where viewers see the entire room reflected. The small medallions set into the mirror's frame show tiny scenes from the Passion of Christ and represent God's ever-present promise of salvation for the figures reflected on the mirror's convex surface.

Van Eyck enhanced the documentary nature of this painting by exquisitely painting each object. He carefully distinguished textures and depicted the light from the window on the left reflecting off various surfaces. The artist augmented the scene's credibility by including the convex mirror, because viewers can see not only the principals, Arnolfini and his wife, but also two persons who look into the room through the door. One of these must be the artist himself, as the florid inscription above the mirror, "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic," announces he was present. The picture's purpose, then, seems to have been to record and sanctify this marriage. Although this has been the traditional interpretation of this image, some scholars recently have taken issue with this reading, suggesting that Arnolfini is conferring legal privileges on his wife to conduct business in his absence. Despite the lingering questions about the precise purpose of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Bride, the painting provides viewers today with great insight into both van Eyck's remarkable skill and Flemish life in the fifteenth century."

The Triumph of Death

Chinese Torture

"Chinese torture was a different way to punish offenders. It was meant to be "as painful as the human body can resist." Making a person laugh until his death--Chinese invention. The Chinese not only knew extremely well how to get the truth out of anyone, they made victims hate their torturers.
The most common way to make someone speak was with the use of a torture called "the blade." It consisted of a small--very sharp--dagger. The torturer would make one cut at a time to his victim, if he refused to speak, he could go on endlessly. A thousand cuts were not enough to kill a person. He could continue living until all his blood drained out of his body very slowly. This rarely happened since a victim could be cured and tortured for months--or years.
In medieval China, if someone didn't obey the emperor, he'd be killed. If anyone refused to believe in the emperor, he'd be tortured and killed. If someone offended the emperor, what was going to await him is best described as "hell."
That's the reason of the now infamous "Chinese Torture." But it didn't include only cutting and laughing; it was much more. They also developed highly psychological tortures. Depriving sleep was one of the most commonly used.
"The Ball" was totally psychological. It consisted of fixing a person to a wall (in good cases with ropes, bad cases with nails) and tying a small ball all the way from the roof to the head of the victim. The rope would go back and forth hitting the person's forehead until it reached his brain--after many months--and he finally died. In the middle stage of the torturing process, the victim would be shouting in agonizing pain since he could feel how the blood from his forehead was reaching his eyes (sometimes causing blindness)."