Sterfbed c. 1844 - 1854

Gerhardus Fredericus Eilbracht created this drawing called 'Sterfbed' using pen in the nineteenth century. The composition is striking; the dark tones of the foreground pull our eyes into the scene. A figure sits watch in a room in the centre of the composition, while a sick person lies in the bed to the left. Eilbracht's use of light and shadow is particularly compelling. The sharp contrasts create a sense of drama, and the way light is used suggests that the space is fraught with tension and reflection. The linear quality, achieved with very fine penstrokes, gives the scene a distinctive graphic feel. The structure of this drawing and the relationships between its parts—the bed, the figure and the shadowed spaces—invite us to consider how illness, death and vigil destabilise established cultural ideas. The texture of the work is mostly smooth, except where the artist has created depth using hatch marks, which could symbolise the depth of emotion in the scene. Ultimately, this drawing doesn't just depict a scene, but engages us in a dialogue about mortality and the transient nature of human existence.