Death

This unique sculpture was made by the artist of Flemish origins, Gil de Ronza, who during the first quarter of the 16th century worked around Zamora and who participated in the decoration of the Golden Chapel of the Salamanca Cathedral, where there also is a similar representation. The skeleton is very expressive and realistic, truly a body in an advance state of decomposition, showing himself to the viewer while ready to play the horn with which he announces men his arrival, in an sculpture that could refer to the literary "Dance of Death". The theme of death, represented by a body with no flesh or a skeleton, has been a constant plastic reference during the Middle Ages, especially developed during the late Gothic. The example given here was part of a thorough iconographic program of 12 groups of sculptures with themes that made reference to concepts from the Creed, that decorated the funerary chapel of the Dean Vazquez de Cepeda, in the convent of San Francisco de Zamora, and whose presence was justified due to the funerary character of the enclosure.