this is a remarkable painting that i've not seen previously. do you know who painted it?
let me tell you who these people are. the young man near the fence with a detached expression was the husband to the deceased lady, and he cannot wipe from his eyes what he saw as his wife died trying to pass that child. the younger man is his elder son who can't believe that that mound of dirt is all that's left of his mother.
the old fellow with the shovel is her father and the woman her mother. the man with his hands in his pockets is an older brother of the fresh widower, and the tall man is their father. their mother lies nearby. beyond the fence is the only doctor in those parts who was two counties over, tending to a man whose leg was shattered by a runaway wagon. by the time someone got to him it was already too late.
however we complain about our lives and our hardships, we have it very easy compared to our forebears. death for them was always a wrong turn ahead.