ET IN ARCADIA EGO

Et in arcadia ego: translation

In English,also in Arcadia Iam. Arcadia is the land of milk and honey of Virgil'sEclogueswhere shepherds and shepherdesses frolic about.Et in Arcadia Egois the topic of a painting byGuercinorendered in c. 1618 (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d' Arte Antica) and two byNicolas Poussinin 1627 (Chatsworth, Devonshire Collection) and 1637-1638 (Paris, Louvre), respectively. These show shepherds and shepherdesses stumbling upon a tomb, implying thatEt in Arcadia Egoare the words spoken by Death as a reminder that, even in the land of milk and honey, life is only temporary.