Many hospice organizations have printed up little booklets for families to read giving a "what to expect" of the dying process. This idea is by no means a new concept. In fact, one of the first books printed with movable type back in the 1400's was just such a book. "Ars Moriendi" (The Art of Dying) was a book written by an anonymous Dominican friar in 1415. It was THE book on how to prepare to die and how to die well. You can be the judge of how relevant such a book would be for today.

The book describes the five temptations that dying people face. In 5 different scenes a devil invites the temptations of lack of faith, despair, impatience, vanity and greed. The next 5 scenes depicted are the solutions to these temptations, what one must seek to die well: Faith, hope, patience, humility and generosity. This line drawing is from the artist Master E.S. from 1440, one of the earliest depictions of the Ars Moriendi text, entitled "Impatience". Note the chachetic look of the dying man, his ribs clearly visible. See the table knocked down and the dying mans leg kicking a caregiver in the back. When I see this picture I think of delirium, or terminal restlessness that we see in the dying process. I suppose labeling it impatience was the best reason they had to give such extreme behavior.

The artist Hieronymus Bosch also depicted this theme in his painting entitled "Ars Moriendi"(1490). In this illustration he attempts to depict the struggle between good and evil. The angel is on the dying man's deathbed attempting to direct his eyes upward to the crucifix illuminated in the window by divine light. Meanwhile a little devil is attempting to give the man a purse of money. We are left not knowing which path this man will take, as death sneaks into the room with an arrow in his hand.

What would a picture of Ars Moreindi look like today? How would we in modern times communicate what it means to die well? Perhaps the ideas of faith, hope, patience, humility and generosity are still components of the process even now.

Works: Master E.S.(1440) "Impatience"
Bosch, Heronymus(1490) "Ars Moreindi"

I wanted to write a follow-up on a movie I had posted on previously, "The Sea Inside". As I was writing about "The Sea Inside", Amy (who is much more musically inclined than I) pointed out to me the significance of the song playing during the dream sequence. The song (or aria, to be more precise) is entitled Nessun Dorma or None Shall Sleep. It's from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot.

Here's the plot in a nutshell. Turandot is a princess in ancient China who challenges her suitors with three riddles. If they can answer, they win her hand. If not, they are beheaded. The Prince of Tartary falls for Turandot and correctly answers all three of the riddles. Turandot is very upset that he has succeeded, so the Prince gives her an out. If she can guess his name by morning, he will be put to death. If she can't guess, she will have to marry him. The Princess declares, "This night, none shall sleep in Peking! The penalty for all will be death if the Prince's name is not discovered by morning." The song is Nessun Dorma is sung by the Prince awaiting the morning.




Below is Luciano Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma. In 1990, Pavarotti's version of this song actually hit #2 on the UK Singles Chart, which is said to be the highest ever achieved by a classical recording. (Songs that made it up to #1 on UK charts that year included Ice Ice Baby, Turtle Power, and Hangin' Tough. Hard competition for Nessun Dorma.)





Puccini died from complications of throat cancer prior to finishing the opera and it had to be finished to by one of his contemporaries, Franco Alfano. Although Alfano did have some of Puccini's sketches to work from, no one knows exactly how Puccini would have ended the opera. There have been a couple different reworkings of the ending since that time.

I recently heard (thank you NPR) that the ending was going to be rewritten again. Apparently, the opera Turandot was never played in China as they believed the blood thirsty Chinese princess cast a bad light on the country. To celebrate the opening of the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, a Chinese composer, Hao Weiya, was hired to rewrite the end of Turandot. It seems to have been met with some mixed reviews.

Here is the common translation of Nessun Dorma.

No one sleeps, no one sleeps
Even you, o Princess,
In your cold room,
Watch the stars,
That tremble with love
And with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me;
My name no one shall know, no, no,
On your mouth I will speak it
When the light shines,
And my kiss will dissolve the silence
That makes you mine.
No one will know his name
And we must, alas, die.
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars!
At daybreak, I shall conquer!

As the Prince stays awake all night, he awaits a morning that might bring his own death or the fulfilment of his dream (desire) to be with the Princess Turandot. Ramon Sampedro felt that he was being denied "sleep", but in his case, it was the sleep itself he desired. What an appropriate choice of music!

How much of our temperament is based on genetics, and how much is experiential? For Edvard Munch it may have been more of his life circumstances that shaped his morose outlook on life, than the fiber of who he was at birth. Born in 1863 in Norway, Edvard was the second child of five. His early life was tainted with the death of his mother at age 5 and his beloved older sister when he was 14. As if this weren't tragedy enough, a younger sister was diagnosed with mental illness and institutionalized most of her life. His father, a physician, dealt with the loss of his wife by instilling religious fear into the hearts of the remaining children. Edvard considered himself ill as well, and wrote, "Without anxiety and illness, I am a ship without a rudder....My sufferings are part of my self and my art. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art."

Although Munch is best known for his painting "The Scream"(1893), his other works are worthy of examination. Because of his early experiences with death, many of his pieces explore his emotional responses to the memories of his childhood.

The first piece to exam in entitled "The Dead Mother and Child"(1897-1899) or the later version known as just "The Dead Mother"(1899-1900). What's interesting about these pieces are the differences. In the earlier painting we see the entire room, perhaps from Munch's perspective as he came to his mother's deathbed. Relatives are mourning in the background quite separate from the child. Munch's sister in red, eyes wide in horror, has her hands covering her ears, in an effort to block out something; maybe the reality of the situation, maybe the sounds in the room? His sister's mouth is open mid sob, or mid scream. In fact this posture is not unlike his most famous painting, "The scream"(1893). Contrast this version with "The Dead Mother"(1899-1900) done a year or so later. The viewer is now up close, and the child, still ears clasped with her hands, looks less horrified and more defiant. She's less emotional, implied also by her pale blue dress as opposed to the red dress of the other painting. Red is often used to symbolize passion. Using a cooler color fits well with this more composed painting.