Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

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Click to view high resolution image Title: Temptation through Impatience Creator: Master E. S., artist Description: A dying man is not satisfied with his doctor or his attendants. He has overturned a set table as a woman approaches with a glass and a dish of food. He pushes the doctor away with his foot as another woman, perhaps his wife, tries to reason with him. To the right is a demon with bat wings, perhaps encouraging the bedridden man’s behavior. This image comes from chapter two of the Ars moriendi [The Art of Dying], a tract intended to instruct its readers on dying well. After the devastating effects of the plague in the fourteenth century with sudden deaths and limited access to priests, the laity welcomed this kind of guide with prayers and images as a “virtual priest.” Chapter two discusses the five temptations that torment the dying (including the depicted temptation of impatience) and how one might overcome them so that the moment of death could be a triumph. Source: Wikimedia Commons Rights: Public domain Subject (See Also): Ars Moriendi Treatises (Latin: Art of Dying) Black Death Death Demons Diseases Domestic Space Geographic Area: Germany Century: 15 Date: circa 1450 Related Work: Current Location: Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Douce Collection, 1863.1619 Original Location: Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Prints Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Engravings Donor: Height/Width/Length(cm): 8.7 cm/6.5 cm/ Inscription: Related Resources:

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