Taxing Times

Now my advice for those who die,
Declare the pennies on your eyes.
‘Cause I’m the Taxman,
Yeah, I’m the Taxman.

And you’re working for no one but me.

—From “Taxman” by The Beatles

For the March Art Poll By Bob, I asked you to rock out and answer the following question, “Which of these famous statues of antiquity makes you get all old school?” You picked the Nike of Samothrace (3rd century BCE) over Laocoon and his Sons (2nd or 1st century BCE) 17 to 16. Dying Gaul (3rd century BCE) came in third with 10 votes, just ahead of the Venus de Milo (2nd century BCE) with 9. The Barberini Faun (3rd century BCE) held fifth place by itself with 5 votes, while Antinous Mondragone (130 CE), Apollo Belvedere (4th century BCE), Belvedere Torso (2nd century BCE), and Farnese Hercules (3rd century CE) shared a four-way tie for sixth place with a single vote each. Satyr or Faun of Praxiteles (2nd century BCE) brought up the rear with 0 votes. Thanks to everyone who played along.

For April, in honor of the United States looming tax return deadline on April 15th, I’ve decided to ask the following question, “Which of these following money- or tax-related works brings you the most to account?”:


Hieronymus Bosch. Death and the Miser (1490s).

Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600).

Lucas Cranach the Elder. Christ Drives the Usurers out of the Temple (1517).

Albrecht Dürer (attributed). Of Usury, from Brant's Stultifera Navis (the Ship of Fools) (1494).

John Leech. Ebenezer Scrooge and the Last of the Spirits from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843).

Quentin Matsys. The Moneylender and his Wife (1514).

Rembrandt. Christ Driving the Moneychangers from the Temple (1626).

Niels Larsen Stevns. Zacchaeus (1913).

Thomas Sully. Shylock and Portia from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1835).

Paul Vos, The Tax Collector (1543).

No complicated forms, W2s, or math involved—just sum up the energy to pick your favorite. Unlike the IRS, I’ll even give you until the end of the month to file. Don’t be greedy, just vote for your favorite.