A musing that occurred to me the other day, prompting me to do a little research on the question it asks.

Not a topic of any great importance to be sure, more a curiosity actually, but something for Friday amusement and discussion perhaps.

Down through the centuries, our culture has developed images of Death and the Devil that have become long-standing and unmistakably recognizable. Anyone who sees either of them knows immediately what they are and what they represent. The details of their appearance may vary, but the overall image that they present is certain, as well as ominous.

The most common image of Death over the centuries has of course been the black-robed, black-hooded skeletal figure, or unseen being hidden by a long overreaching hood, carrying a large scythe, for cutting down the living:

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailv2&ccid=jyb9e4n1&id=6a9375b66ffcc5a52ca70e55a3a10007bb497025&thid=oip.jyb9e4n1kt35s-j7ttquewhae7&mediaurl=https%3a%2F%2F1a3kls1q8u5etu6z53sktyqdif-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F08%2Fdeath.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2Fr.2726fd1389f592ddf9b3e8fb4edaae13%3frik%3Djxbjuwcaoanvdg%26pid%3Dimgraw%26r%3D0&exph=565&expw=850&q=death&simid=608054240078733586&form=irprst&ck=cfe15bd0cbaf564df8edc89cead1de0c&selectedindex=3&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

An image that evokes terror in all who see it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enaneylmnj0

The image commonly used for the Devil has similarities, a menacing, fearful being, with horns and pitchfork:

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailv2&ccid=cworckzn&id=1afc51f5ca30d96d5ed174bf8d92a6b9e17fcf15&thid=oip.cworckznugkf2r2lmnmzvwhaek&mediaurl=https%3a%2F%2Fmedia.newyorker.com%2Fphotos%2F5d0d56a203a303d37b7e4451%2F16%3a9%2Fw_1280%2cc_limit%2Fhutton-devilexpression.jpg%3fmbid%3Dsocial_retweet&cdnurl=https%3a%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2Fr.716a2b0a4667ba0905dabd8b327333bf%3frik%3Dfc9%252f4bmmko2%252fda%26pid%3Dimgraw%26r%3D0&exph=719&expw=1280&q=devil&simid=608053149163942122&form=irprst&ck=e0d1bfc7637aa3b5a9c4f445d80c9f1a&selectedindex=1&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

And, as well, a source of fear and foreboding:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py6sl1x5qbi

But it just seems a bit odd to me that cancer, arguably the most fear-inducing disease of them all, has never come to have a similar sort of "standard" frightful image of its own, disturbingly unique, and immediately recognizable by all who see it.

Certainly there are symbols for cancer, even for the various cancers, ribbons and such, but nothing as anthropomorphic, and disturbing, as has been created for Death and the Devil.

However, it does seem to be the case that actually no diseases (that I can think of) have ever come to have their own such cultural images, with perhaps one exception.

When the Black Death ravaged Europe during the 14th century, the art of that time depicted this scourge in ways that resembled Death, but at the same time making it very clear that the plague was the inspiration for and the object of their artistry:

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailv2&ccid=g88qodsq&id=af5cafd8e6a872320987b26ef13721ef05abb46d&thid=oip.g88qodsq04eftjr8isjjfqhae1&mediaurl=https%3a%2F%2Fgregoryrose.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F08%2Fdanse-macabre.jpg&cdnurl=https%3a%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2Fr.1bcf10a1db10d3811fb63afc8ac26315%3frik%3Dbbsrbe8hn%252ffusg%26pid%3Dimgraw%26r%3D0&exph=609&expw=932&q=danse+macabre&simid=608003430622829002&form=irprst&ck=64fe10777c61ea0388b666ee3512d21e&selectedindex=14&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&vt=0&sim=11

But from time to time an occasional modern artist does attempt this, to create an artistic image that could become the image that society imagines upon hearing the word "cancer."

Such as filmmaker Daniel Ahrens does in his short piece "Shell." In it he depicts artistically the horrors of his father's cancer ordeal. He personifies cancer by displaying it as a hideous, decaying monster:

https://filmshortage.com/shorts/shell/

(WARNING: this video is short, but is also grotesque, very violent, and with female nudity. So I have not linked it, as it may go beyond the decorum this forum requires. (MODS: feel free to delete above link and this text if you feel that is the case). Otherwise, copy and paste link to your own browser if you wish to view it)

But while the video is graphic and disturbing, it does make the filmmaker's point, that cancer is a monstrous thing, and that the cultural image that society chooses to represent it should be so as well.

But, generally speaking, there has not been, as far as I have been able to discover, any single, commonly-accepted modern artistic image, almost like an icon out of folklore, that unquestionably says to the viewer "I am cancer."

Perhaps society has never felt the need for producing such an image. Perhaps we have, wisely it could be argued, decided to envision cancer scientifically, not artistically, as simply a biological event, with no need to think of it artistically, or allegorically, or as a monster.

But it still strikes me as at least a bit curious that as a society we never came to visualize it in a certain way, as we did for Death and the Devil.

OTOH, if you were an artist, how would you portray Cancer, in a way that all society would recognize?

Cyclone-ISU:

What an excellent insight! When you say

"I think elementary art class would be a great setting to generate some hope-filled images for "the good fight" ~ such as the greeting cards created by the kids at Saint Jude's Research Hospital & other children's health charities."

you are pointing out a fact that we adults often forget when searching for solutions to problems: that children have a purity and freshness of perspective that we adults have lost, that they see things differently, and in doing so often come upon solutions that we older folks have lost the ability to see.

I am reminded of the quote attributed to Robert Oppenheimer that goes

"There are children playing in the street who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago. ”

I'm not sure I would want to ask the children to come up with a symbol for cancer itself, as that might well involve creating a rather negative picture.

But asking a group of children, with their wonderful and youthful perspectives, to talk about cures for cancer, now that might be a fulfillment of Oppenheimer's observation!

What wonderful ideas they might have, that actually turn out to be insightful and even useful when pursued!

From the mouths of babes???!!!??

81GyGuy ~~~

When I was first diagnosed with cancer, you can't IMAGINE how UPLIFTING those little notes, cards, and art drawings were ~ left on my teacher's desk by my 4th graders.

They showed such support and quiet acceptance ~ when it became obvious that I was going through some tough treatments.

Ironically, I started chemotherapy during the FIRST WEEK of a brand new school year.

I remember hoping my hair wouldn't fall out before "Backpack Night" ~ when students and parents visit school & take a tour & unpack their supplies & find their lockers and meet their teacher ~ akin to an "open House" event!

A few days later, while starting a new school day ~ a few strands of hair started falling out, without warning.

By afternoon, as the school day ended, strands of hair were falling out like crazy.

After school, I dashed to the nearest barber shop and asked for a buzz cut.
I grew up in the 1970s, and had never had a buzz cut in my life!

I didn't know it ~ but their policy was to never charge for a haircut for a medical situation such as mine.

They refused all offers of payment, but I left cash in their "tip jar" that was equivalent to the value of a haircut, with gratitude for how well they took care of me.

The buzz cut allowed my students a chance to adjust to my change in appearance.

Soon thereafter, all my hair fell out. My students showed such care and respect, and somehow just quietly understood.

That's when those notes and handmade cards and uplifting drawings started piling up on my desk.

Just when a tough treatment day arrived, somehow a new card or note or drawing would appear.

Things were so uncertain right then, but focusing on my school year and students really lifted me up.

Those 4th graders will soon be graduating! Treatments have carried me this far! So proud of my students!

Always a fan of student artwork! Uplifting!

Teaching art, every Friday afternoon, after wrapping up all the other subjects, was a great way to end each school week!


C-Y-C-L-O-N-E ~ # Iowa State University

Post Edited (Cyclone-ISU) : 7/22/2022 7:57:53 PM (GMT-7)