Jenny Plake Designs: Art History Meets Halloween: Part I

Being a Halloween fan and Art Historian has it's fantastic connections. The history of Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve, dates back as early as the 16th century, and is a celebration of remembering the dead or saints (hallows). In it's beginning as a holiday, festivities were much like with modern day; feasting (although there were much more apples than plastic wrapped sugar), costume wearing for telling spooky ghost stories (okay, well more like folk stories), and of course the tricks or games played believed to have started by the Irish (Oh, those pranksters!). Also, it is the eve of All Saints Day, November 1st, which marks the end of harvest season and beginning of the 'darker' part of the year; winter season (later came day light savings time). There are various accounts on whether it is considered a pagan or religious holiday depending on which part of Europe you ask. However, today it seems different cultures have made it their own concoction, which is the reason for this treat of a blog post. The following examples show strong inspiration for today's classic halloween characters: mummies, skeletons, witches, ghosts and spiders. If we remember Karl Freund's 1932 film, The Mummy, or the now iconic serial killer mask from Wes Craven's Scream series, these art historical images pose as inspiration for the ever popular holiday characters and costumes. Although, the artworks shown here were not originally created for the holiday spirit. Some remember the dead, study the dead, symbolize the dead, strip down to the bones, commercialize the bones, and so on... they are still images that continue to inspire with their individual art historical statements.

King Tutankhamen, Thebes, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1323 BCE, Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Anatomical studies of the human skeleton sketches, Leonardo da Vinci, ca. 1510

The Incantation, Francisco Goya, oil on canvas, 1797 – 98, Lazaro Galdiano Foundation, Madrid

Amorōnagu "girl who fell from heaven", is a tennyo (celestial maiden) from the folklore of the island of Amami Ōshima, in Kagoshima prefecture, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, first half of the 19th century

Nissaka Man receiving a child fron a ghost, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, ca. 1844. This night scene illustrates the moment when the ghost of the murdered woman hands over her baby to her husband. The rock upon which her blood flows becomes the abode of her spirit which cries out every night.