B. R. with an Anchor

I came across the image below and found it rather fascinating. It depicts a King playing Death at chess. I was created in 1480 (remember this is the time frame during which modern chess was evolving) by an engraver from the Lower Rhine region only refered to as "Master B. R. with an Anchor."  If you look at his signature at the bottom of the image, you can see why this name is appropriate.  There are only 15 plates attributed to this engaver, 9 of which are unsigned.

Is that the Pope? Sixto IV, then?

https://thecoloradohistorian.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/the-colorado-historian-volume-2-spring-20123.pdf

It reminds me of Ingmar Bergman's movie 'The Seventh Seal', where a medevil knight plays the personification of Death in chess. I wonder why the King was sketched turning away from the board.

It's also interesting that death played as white, the king as black.

I couldn't find any text in that page concerning this image there other than it was included in "The Illustrated Bartsch."

Do you mean the prelate on the right, holding the staff could be Pope Sixtus IV?  I don't know anything about Catholic Church history. I thought perhaps that the figure was symbolic of the church and not a representation of an actual person, but you could very well be right:

It's also interesting to note that the board, as in many films, is sideways.  Of course, in 1480 there was no codifiation for board placement. Is the King looking away from the game...or towards something? And is the angel the arbitrator?

Death is smaller than the people. Seems kinda funny as death, in the west, is now usually much bigger and scarry.

petite mort

French!

YOu dirty girl.

La petite mort, French for "the little death", is an idiom for orgasm. This term has generally been interpreted to describe the post-orgasmic state of unconsciousness that some people have after having some sexual experiences.

More widely, it can refer to the spiritual release that comes with orgasm or to a short period of melancholy or transcendence as a result of the expenditure of the "life force," the feeling which is caused by the release ofoxytocin in the brain after the occurrence of orgasm. Literary critic Roland Barthes spoke of la petite mort as the chief objective of reading literature, the feeling one should get when experiencing any great literature.

Morticia! You know what french does to me!

How do they know that is Death? Wouldn't they be dead?

No, death only comes when you are alive. After that, he has no interest in you. You are angle fodder after that.

But, don't believe me. You can believe Monty Python.

That's my point, better not translating it. 

Following monotheistic religious scriptures, the 'Angel of Death' comes just before the time on earth for someone is over. It is if you like the last major penultimate sign of death. The last being, the actual process of 'death' appearing to remove one's soul from earth.

It could just be the 'dead' playing the King, but I don't know the actual context behind the picture.

Just found this interesting piece:

http://legomenon.com/symbols-of-death-art-analysis-seventh-seal-meaning.html

Especially interesting:

Interpretation of Death Playing Chess Allegory

What is the meaning of the Death Playing Chess art allegory? The game of chess is all about outwitting your opponent, so this chess-death allegory speaks to a society's desperate and futile attempts to prolong life and avoid Death by any means necessary, whether wearing a plague doctor mask for protection or turning survival into an intellectual game of strategy that could be won if only "played" correctly.

Less is more and some things are often better left unsaid, especially in word-play.

It makes you defend with e6?

I don't play with words. Because, as we all know, words hurt.

That guy needs a life.