Sundt-Hansen's 'Burial At Sea'

Norwegian painter Karl Sundt-Hansen depicted a somber scene aboard a ship after the death of a sailor.

Karl Sundt-Hansen (1841-1907) Burial at Sea, 1890

A foreshortened body lies shrouded under a flag, while his bareheaded shipmates gather around. At the head of the body, a bearded man reads prayers as his widow quietly mourns.  

Their faces, captured in various shades of grief, explore a range of human characters and tell a story of shared mourning and stoic acceptance.