Portrait of a Young Man with a Skull (c. 1519): Art, History and Details

Portrait of a Young Man with a Skull (c. 1519) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Lucas van Leyden (Netherlandish, 1494–about 1533).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Dressed in exceptionally fine attire––fancy plumes, brocade collar, and slashed sleeves––this young man solemnly points at a skull he is carrying in his cloak. The juxtaposition of the skull and the lavish clothing is a message that frivolous pleasures are misguided and the bravado of youth is ephemeral.

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of a Young Man with a Skull
• Date: c. 1519
• Creator attribution: Lucas van Leyden (Netherlandish, 1494–about 1533)
• Culture: Netherlands, 16th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Sheet: 18.6 x 14.6 cm (7 5/16 x 5 3/4 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1941.297

Collection credit

The Mary Spedding Milliken Memorial Collection, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.