In Memorium Buonarroti

Don LaViere Turner was a painter, printmaker, sculptor, and poet. He studied art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, receiving his BS in 1951, followed by an MS in 1953. In 1971, he returned to Wisconsin, continued his painting and printmaking practices, and taught at UW–Madison. This enigmatic color woodcut, the title of which alludes to Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, depicts a human figure whose skull is visible within the shadow of its head. Facing the figure is a larger specter-like skull bearing the words “My Name is Arms.” The intended meaning of this sentence is unclear. The print might be interpreted as a memento mori, a reminder of the inevitability of death. It may also be viewed as a contemporary continuation of the recurring image of the Dance of Death in medieval Europe, in which personifications of death beckon people from all walks of life to their graves. The theme was popular in early woodcuts and engravings and frequently revisited by printmakers for centuries.