et in arcadia ego

and they shall read on the beautiful square monument
the inscription that chills my heart at all hours,
that makes me strangle so much sorrow in my breast.

—Jacopo Sannazano (1458-1530), Italian poet, Arcadia, 1502




Et in Arcadia ego: 'Even in Arcadia I am', this Latin phrase implies that death comes even in a place of great beauty and ease. The painting above, by Nicolas Poussin(1594–1665), is titled "Et in Arcadia ego."

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