Where does the image of the Grimreaper come from?

it is probably a Jungian type archetype from the subconscious that has had a little tweaking and embellishing over the years, through art and culture. Greek mythology had Charon the ferryman to transport the soul across the river Styx.

Skeleton-in-robes Death started off being Celtic.

@Nullo I think Charon (Greek) pre-dates the celtic ones.

@downtide @Nullo currently we can’t determine who came first with this depiction of death, though Death in Greek culture is two separate deities, god of death (peaceful), and goddess of death (violent) – @mammal Charon, besides ferrying souls over to the underworld, has nothing to do with death as the god and goddess bring the souls to him to ferry over, and he doesn’t have a scythe nor is he a skeleton. The god of death is more angelic in appearance and is supposed to be gentle while the goddess was soaked in blood and is of violent nature. So my guess is Celtic wins in modern depiction of death with their skeleton in a cloak sometimes carrying a scythe.

@Winters That’s damn interesting, thanks. :) I knew watching Xena wasn’t a waste of time lol.

My mother in law’s baby picture ;)

Probably from the front line of some battle, many moons ago.

@Winters, @downtide The OP was asking about The Grim Reaper, not personifications of death in general. The bony fellow with the robes and the scythe comes from Celtic mythology. He may not have been the first, but he is the one that @Symbeline was asking about.