Death Playing Chess

Hi! I want to share my work, which I was very excited and had so much fun creating, for those who might be interested.

I was exploring medieval works related to chess when I discovered a mural in a church in Sweden called Death Playing Chess. Later, I found out that the German director Bergman saw this mural as a child and was inspired by it to create his movie The Seventh Seal. This mural and the movie inspired me to start my own project.

While thinking about how I could combine the content of the film with my own field, I came across miniature chess scenes in the Iranian epic Shahnameh (10th–11th century), and I got even more excited. Since I was already researching the history of chess, I knew it likely originated in India (most sources suggest this, although it’s not certain) and spread from India to Iran around the 8th century.

In the miniature scene I included in the shared image, the Indian king sends the chess game to the Shah of Iran through an envoy, challenging him to figure out its rules. If he can solve the game, they won’t demand tribute. According to the Shahnameh, Bozorgmehr (the Shah’s vizier) deciphers how the game is played. These moments are beautifully depicted in the miniature scenes.

The book I’m reading is Satrançname by Firdevsi-i Rumi (16th century), which tells the story of chess’s origin along with related anecdotes, including the chess scenes from the Shahnameh. In the video, I’m trying to read those parts. Seeing these scenes in the Shahnameh, which supports the idea that chess originated in India, made me even more excited.

In my work, I was inspired by these scenes and created a composition where Death and a Shah are playing chess while seated on a throne. There is no winner in the game; the Shah is playing to buy time, but he knows that death is inevitable—just like it is for all of us.