Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This historic Japanese artform meditates on death - and finds a kind of beauty in our natural impermanence.
Credit: Kusōzu: the death of a noble lady and the decay of her body. Watercolour, artist unrecorded. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Alt text: This reel shows images from a series of nine Japanese watercolours showing the death of a woman from natural causes, and the fate of her body after she has died. The series follows the woman through ill-health to bodily decomposition. We see her first in a beautiful traditional Japanese interior with fine textiles and patterned screens; the later scenes show her remains outdoors, gradually returning to nature.
This historic Japanese artform meditates on death - and finds a kind of beauty in our natural impermanence.
Credit: Kusōzu: the death of a noble lady and the decay of her body. Watercolour, artist unrecorded. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Alt text: This reel shows images from a series of nine Japanese watercolours showing the death of a woman from natural causes, and the fate of her body after she has died. The series follows the woman through ill-health to bodily decomposition. We see her first in a beautiful traditional Japanese interior with fine textiles and patterned screens; the later scenes show her remains outdoors, gradually returning to nature.
