noun
death portrait; shini-e
Historical term for an ukiyo-e print depicting a person in their final moments, often produced as a memorial after death.
浮世絵師の死後に、死絵が追悼として出版されることがあった。
After an ukiyo-e artist's death, shini-e were sometimes published as memorials.
この死絵には、役者が舞台で倒れる場面が描かれている。
This shini-e depicts a scene of an actor collapsing on stage.
Ukiyo-e is the broader genre of woodblock prints; 死絵 is a specific subcategory depicting death or final moments.
追悼 means mourning or memorial; 死絵 is a concrete art form used for that purpose.
Compound of 死 (し, 'death') and 絵 (え, 'picture'). The reading しにえ uses the older nominal form 死に (しに) of the verb 死ぬ (しぬ, 'to die').