How to Read Paintings: The Death of Marat by Edvard Munch

A depiction filled with energy and emotional torment

The Death of Marat (1907) by Edvard Munch. Oil on canvas. 150 × 199 cm. Munch Museum, Oslo, Norway. Image source Wikimedia Commons

This painting, titled The Death of Marat, is a writhing mess of blood and flesh, offering a nightmarish scene of murder and mayhem.

Like many of Munch’s artworks, the content makes for an unnerving concoction of serenity and violence.