The Ploughman (from Les Simulachres & Historiees Faces de la Mort)

A woodcut illustration shows a skeletal figure, Death, standing behind a team of horses and guiding the plow. A male peasant, dressed in simple farm clothes and a broad-brimmed hat, walks alongside the plow, holding the handles. The scene is set in an agricultural landscape with a distant village and a sun rising or setting over hills. The image is rendered in stark black lines on a white background, characteristic of the 16th-century woodcut style.

This print is part of Hans Holbein’s 'Danse Macabre' series, which serves as a memento mori, reminding the viewer of the universality of death regardless of social station. It draws directly from the biblical curse found in Genesis 3:19, emphasizing labor and mortality.