death portrait
Final painted image
A death portrait is a photograph or painting made of a person who has recently died, typically posed as if sleeping or sometimes seated among family members.
The practice was common in the Victorian era, when photography was new and infant mortality high—for many families, a death portrait was the only image they would ever have of a deceased child.
The daguerreotype showed the baby in her christening gown, a death portrait made hours after she passed.
- memento moriArtistic death reminder
- posthumousOccurring after death
- post mortemAnalysis after the fact
- mourningPeriod following loss
- daguerreotypeFirst commercial photography method
Victorian · deathbed · coffin · shroud · funeral · funeral parlor · bereaved · keepsake · family heirloom · pallor · stillness · eternal rest · grief · last goodbye · remembrance · wake · corpse · veil