Death Reading from a Human Lectern, Congregation in Background

Formerly attributed to Anonymous, Spanish School, mid-19th cent.
At the center of the composition looms a spectral, hooded figure bearing a scythe. He reads from an oversized book supported on the back of a kneeling man who serves as a human lectern. They appear to be the only figures in this macabre, tenebrous scene. Lucas created an eerie atmosphere through contrasting formal elements, leaving the spectator to wonder whom Death is addressing. --Exhibition Label, from "Visions and Nightmares: Four Centuries of Spanish Drawings"