This piece is a remake of Carlos Schwabe's painting of the same name, from 1895.
I loved the gothic feel to it, the appearance of the angel and the colours. I feel like I've learned some things about tonality of colours and shadows with this piece.
Symbolically, it speaks, of course, of winter. Of death. The gravedigger is digging his own grave and, by the looks of it, he's already done quite a good job of it. Still, when the angel appears, he either acts surprised or relieved. I felt like his look was subject of interpretation but, in my view, it represents that all of us, no matter how much (or little) we contemplate death or perhaps in some cases even think we're familiar of it, She will always come unannounced and unexpected.
The angel's expression is stoic, as if she's performing her duties and there's nothing personal about it. The graveyard in the back perhaps represents the fact that she's been doing this since forever (spoiler alert: she has) and the gravedigger is just one of many; behind and beyond.