Plague (Pest), from the series Death, Part II (Vom Tode Zweiter Teil)

Art Historical Context

Max Klinger’s *Plague (Pest)* belongs to his ambitious print cycle *Death, Part II*, published in 1904. Working in etching—a medium prized for its sharp contrasts and intricate line work—Klinger conjures a somber scene of illness and human vulnerability. The tags hint at a hospital-like setting populated by men and women, with birds adding an unsettling, symbolic presence that evokes both contagion and the soul’s departure. Created at the turn of the twentieth century, the print reflects Symbolism’s fascination with mortality and the unseen forces shaping life. Klinger, a German artist celebrated for merging realistic detail with dreamlike allegory, uses the series to confront viewers with society’s perennial encounters with epidemic and loss. The modest plate size belies the emotional weight of the composition, inviting quiet contemplation of suffering and resilience. Today housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, *Plague* remains a powerful reminder of art’s role in processing collective fears. Its stark imagery continues to resonate, bridging historical anxieties with timeless questions about life, death, and compassion.

About the Artist

Max Klinger · 1857–1920

Max Klinger, born on February 18, 1857, in Leipzig to a wealthy family, emerged as one of Germany's most innovative artists across painting, sculpture, printmaking, and graphics. Demonstrating early talent, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe in 1874 as a pupil of Karl Gussow, following his teacher to the Berlin Academy upon Gussow's appointment as director, and graduated in 1877 ...