When Willumsen was in his seventies, he painted his own death and resurrection. The result was three monumental self-portraits, which he called the Trilogy of Titian Dying after the Italian Renaissance artist.

In the first painting in the series, the artist falls into a dark cave while his palette and brushes have dropped to the ground. In the second, a completely naked, grey figure lies in the grave, blindfolded, struggling with death. In the third, he has risen again and floats through the heavens, half tiger, half human.

Willumsen knew that the works were to hang in his future museum. He was acutely conscious of his legacy and intent on the idea that his art would live on after his own death.