Juan de Valdés Leal has shrouded

his canvas in deepest darkness.

Two open coffins lie side by side:

a bishop and a knight of Calatrava,

each a worldly exemplar of vanitas,

two souls awaiting the Last Judgement.

The prelate is in an advanced stage

of putrefaction, the flesh of his skull

consumed by worms and beetles,

his crozier clutched by scrawny fingers.

An angel’s hand suspends the scales

of the Last Judgement above them both.

One plate, sustaining a dog and horned goat,

each animal representing mortal sins,

is ominously labelled NIMAS (NOMORE).

The other plate, NIMENOS (NOLESS),

with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, IHS

and the Bible, contains the virtues

that must outweigh the sins of men

if they are to receive eternal rest.

Many other corpses are hinted at,

sprawled in the background gloom.

A messenger to the underworld,

an owl, surveys this scene of doom.

Tony Dawson