The Dead Lovers
The Dead Lovers, also known as The Rotting Pair, is a circa 1470 painting by a German Gothic artist, probably from Ulm or more generally from Swabia or the Upper Rhine region. It is on display in the Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame. Its inventory number is MBA 1442 ("MBA" stands for "Musée des Beaux-Arts").

The painting was at first attributed to a young "Matthias Grünewald", but this attribution has been rejected since. The author is more likely to have been familiar with, or close to, the so-called Master of the Housebook. The Strasbourg painting once had been the reverse of a panel now kept in the Cleveland Museum of Art, which shows a young and fashionable couple in full bloom; both paintings had been sawn apart in the early 20th century.

"The Dead Lovers" depicts the young Cleveland couple as putrefying cadavers, infested by snakes, worms, a toad, and insects such as flies and dragonflies. In spite of this, the two "living dead" still appear quite robust, and still display signs of mutual affection, such as the bride's hand on the bridegroom's shoulder. "The Dead Lovers" serves as a reminder of mortality.
Q183
German
LOC
Q46825
Gothic art
Concept
Q3012
Ulm
LOC
Q11812551
Swabia
LOC
Q663546
Upper Rhine region
LOC
Q847007
Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame
LOC
Q1535963
Musée des Beaux-Arts
LOC
Q154338
Matthias Grünewald
PER
Q460300
Master of the Housebook
PER
Q20725526
reverse
UNK
Q657415
Cleveland Museum of Art
LOC
Q671701
putrefying
CEL
Q48422
cadaver
Concept
Q2102
snake
Concept
Q47253
worm
Concept
Q6453151
toad
Concept
Q25312
flies
Concept
Q80066
dragonflies
Concept
Q273383
a reminder of mortality
Concept
Q27214349
The Dead Lovers
MEDIA
Q27214349
The Dead Lovers
MEDIA
Q27214349
The Dead Lovers
MEDIA
1470-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1470
DATE
+1442^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1442
NUMBER
+20^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
20
NUMBER
inception
location
collection
country
country
country