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| Rudolf Feyerabend, Basel's dance of death |
One gets the best overview of Basel's dance of death from Feyerabend's watercolour.
Feyerabend painted his watercolour in 1806 - the year after the mural had been demolished. Feyerabend therefore had to seek support in Merians copperplates, and he cannot be considered a true eyewitness.
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| Rudolf Feyerabend, Basel's dance of death |
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| Feyerabend deviates much from Merian when it comes to Adam & Eve. |
On the other hand one must assume that Feyerabend still had the dance of death fresh in memory, and that he has made sure, for instance, to get the figures in the proper sequence. Therefore Feyerabend's watercolour is the quickest way to get an overview.
Notice that at the end of the dance - between the peasant and the painter - there's a picture of Adam and Eve with unicorn and eagle, which takes up the exact same space as 2 dance couples. Some scholars assume that this is where the child and Turk have been, and that they have both been replaced by the Paradise-scene after Emanuel Bock's restoration 1614-1616.
The painter and his wife and son had disappeared long before 1806, so Feyerabend had to copy Merian's copperplates, and he has placed them in the same inverted sequence.
Dances of death
Basel
Feyerabend