Huldrich Frölich, 1588
The heathen is one of the few pictures that actually show a scene from Basel.
The heathen's wife appears on the same woodcut, which could then be used twice. The figures are laterally inversed.
Notice that Death has breasts and veil.
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The first person to publish a copy of the tekst
from Basel's dance of death was Huldreich (Ulrich) Frölich
in the book
Lobspruch An die Hochloblich unnd Weitberümpte Statt Basel, 1581.
Seven years later, in 1588, Frölich published another book solely about dances of death:
»Zwen Todentäntz, deren der eine zu Bern dem andern Ort hochloblicher
Eydtgenosschafft zu Sant Barfüßern, der ander aber
zu Basel, dem neunten Ort gemelter Eydtgnosschafft auff S. Predigers
Kirchhof mit Teutschen Versen, darzu auch die Lateinischen kommen,
ordenlich sind verzeichnet Mit schönen und zu beyden Todentäntzen
dienstlichen Figuren, allerley Standt und Völcker gebreuchliche Kleydung
abbildende, gezieret. […]«.
As the title reveals, this book contained two dances of death, »Zwen Todentäntz«,
i.e. from Bern
and Basel, »Deren der eine zu Bern […] Der Ander aber zu Basel«
— but in fact the book contained 4 dances of death,
because Frölich had added a free translation of Basel's dance into Latin,
»darzu auch die Lateinischen«, and he had
included a series of "serviceable images", »schönen und zu beyden Todentäntzen dienstlichen Figuren«.
We'll take a cursory look at the Latin text when we get to the year 1608.
Georg Scharffenberg's signature with year
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This woodcut tells us that the painter died in the year 1578.
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The majority of the "serviceable" woodcuts were (bad) copies
of Holbein's dance of death,
and they are discussed on this page about Holbein and Georg Scharffenberg.
Only a few of the woodcuts showed scenes from Basel,
i.e. the heathen and his wife (together on one woodcut, which was used twice),
the painter and his family (together on one woodcut, which was used twice), the cook and presumably
Adam & Eve.
The picture of the blind man is copied after Holbein, but Scharffenberg added the idea from Basel
with Death cutting the leash to the guide dog.
Three woodcuts are either free interpretations of the dance in Bern or free imagination.
Most of the woodcuts are signed GS,
which is believed to stand for Georg Scharffenberg (ca. 1530 - ca. 1607) or possibly
Gregor Sickinger.
The woodcuts were already rather old when Frölich used them in 1588:
One of them (picture to the left) bears the year 1576 —
i.e. 12 years before »Zwen Todentäntz«.
The book is arranged in such a way that the greatest part follows the dance of death in Basel.
However, the book starts with Adam & Eve in Paradise and the Expulsion,
even though Adam & Eve finished the dance on the mural in Basel.
And conversely Holbein's preacher was placed at the end of the book (this was fixed in the 1608-edition)
to preach the texts from Isaiah and Daniel
that introduces the dance of death in Basel.
The limited selection of woodcuts has presented Frölich with great challenges.
Frölich turned Basel's "kirbepfeiffer" (i.e. market fair musician)
into a "kirbekrämer", so that he could use the copy of Holbein's peddler twice.
In the same way the hermit was illustrated with Holbein's old man,
the young man with Holbein's nun (there wasn't any nun in Basel's dance of death anyway),
and
the mayor with Holbein's judge.
In those cases where the Holbein-copies weren't appropriate
he used "replacement pictures" —
i.e. stock images of people and skeletons from older books.
Huldreich Frölich, 1588, Zwen Todentäntz
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The structure of the individual pages is, that the left-hand pages have the text from Basel and the Latin text,
and the pagination is in Arabic numerals (see picture to the left).
The woodcut is placed on the right-hand side,
and in most cases along with the verses from Bern.
If there is a text from Bern, the page number is written in Roman numerals,
otherwise in Arabic numerals. The only exception is with the usurer, which doesn't appear in Bern, but nonetheless
has the page number xlix.
The last part of the book are five Holbein-copies
that Frölich had been unable to put into neither a Basel- nor a Bern-context.
To these woodcuts were added an original text,
and the heading on each page is "Concinnator" (originator)
to indicate that Frölich had created them himself.
The page numbers are in uppercase Roman numerals.
The resultat is very confusing.
All in all the entire text from Bern has been reproduced,
and the alert reader will be able to separate Basel, Bern and Frölich's own poems from each other
by studying the page numbers, but Bern's verses are brought in a jumbled sequence,
which the reader does not have a chance to figure out.
Frölich's mixture of oversize Holbein-copies
and stock images also started
the misunderstanding that lives to this day,
i.e. that Holbein should have had anything to with the dance of death in Basel.
Zwen Todentäntz was Frölich's last work as a printer, but
in 1608 he published
Der Hochloblichen und Weitberümpten Statt Basel […] sampt des Todtentantzes Basels und Berns
(printed by Sebastian Henricpetri).
Little Stock Images (that are not Copies of Holbein)
In every case, where I have been able to locate the image, it turns out to be a book published
by Henricpetri.
Zwen Todentäntz: Senator
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Cosmographey oder beschreibung aller Länder, 1567
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On the picture to the left Death holds a spade. I have been unable to find this image elsewhere.
The so-called "senator" on the other hand, was often used
in Sebastian Münster's
Cosmographei: oder beschreibung aller länder in all editions and all languages from 1550 and later —
where he appears up to 7 times in each edition.
To the right is a coloured copy from 1567,
where he's supposed to represent the Danish King Christian I.
Zwen Todentäntz: Beggar
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Cosmographey oder beschreibung aller Länder, 1567
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The picture of the beggar is among the oldest and it appears already in the first edition of Cosmographey in 1544.
The beggar can be found in all editions of Cosmographey in all languages at least until 1598 (I haven't checked further).
The beggar can also be found in
Konrad Lykosthenes' Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon from 1557 (pages 522 and 579) and
Nikolaus Höniger's Hoffhaltung des Türckhischen Keysers vnd Othomañischen Reichs from 1578 (first part, page lxvii)
The strange part is that he originally used to have a rosary in his hand (picture to the right).
Cosmographiae uniuersalis, 1552.
Page 398, with rosary.
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Cosmographiae uniuersalis, 1552.
Page 974, now without rosary
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The beggar lost his rosary in 1552, and the really odd part is
that this happened in the middle of a book.
In Cosmographiae uniuersalis he holds a rosary on page 398,
but has lost it on page 974 and has never found it again.
However you can still see the beads that cover his palm.
Zwen Todentäntz: Herold
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Huldreich Frölich, 1581, Death
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I have been unable the locate the herald. The picture of Death (to the right) is the same one
that Frölich had used already in 1581 and which earlier had been used
in Erste Theil der Hoffhaltung Des Türckhischen Keysers and
in Baszler Chronick.
Zwen Todentäntz: Executioner / bailiff
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Cosmographiae universalis, 1545, page cclxxxii.
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The picture of the executioner is also one of the very oldest,
and appears from the start of Cosmographey in 1544.
The image was typically used twice in each book: Partly to illustrate
the "Grave Hartmann von Kyburg"
and partly the "Marggrauen zu Schlesswick".
The image of the executioner/margrave only appears in editions of Cosmographey between 1544 and 1548.
After this he disappears and in the various later editions four different
images are used to illustrate the counts of Kyburg and Schlesswick.
Among these are Frölich's "citizen" and "senator", and sometimes there is no picture at all.
This oddity might make you assume that the woodcut had perished, but this is
evidently not the case, since Frölich was able to use it 40 years later in 1588.
One might wonder how Frölich could use the image of a highborn count to illustrate a lowly executioner.
Frölich solves this problem by headlining the verse, "Der Todt zum Vogt".
The executioner is a "Blutvogt" — a "blood bailiff —
while a "Vogt" / bailiff is a high-ranking civil servant.
Zwen Todentäntz: Jew
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Cosmographey oder beschreibung aller Länder, 1567
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The picture of the Jew appears for the first time
in Cosmographey in 1550 (same year as the senator).
The picture was typically used three times in each book, illustrating
events in Gallia, Bern and Rusach.
The Jew appears at least until 1598, but only in the German editions of Cosmographey.
He is neither to be found in the Latin, French nor Italien editions.
The Jew is portrayed with the pointed hat that Jews were forced to wear in Muslim countries.
On the coloured image to the right one clearly sees the yellow ring —
"The Jewish badge of guilt which is their tragedy to wear".
The image of the Jew was also used in Nikolaus Höniger's Hoffhaltung des Türckhischen Keysers vnd Othomañischen Reichs from 1578 (first part, page lxxvi),
where the author details the harsh treatment of Jews by the Turks.
Apparently Jews fared even worse in Turkey than in Europe, if such a thing can be imagined.
Zwen Todentäntz: Turk
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Hoffhaltung des türckhischen Keysers, 1596
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For inscrutable reasons Frölich has dropped
the portrait of the Turkish emperor Süleyman, the Magnificent,
even though he is the person who presumably was portrayed on the mural.
Instead a more general stock image is employed
from Hoffhaltung des türckhischen Keysers, 1578.
This image was used up to 7 times in each edition of Hoffhaltung to illustrate all kinds of Turks.
The picture is also found in Cosmographey from the year 1588 and later.
Zwen Todentäntz: Crusader
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Cosmographey, 1552
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In the first editions of Cosmographey there was a rather similar image of a crusader,
which was laterally inversed.
The picture to the right appears for the first time in 1552, and from that point on both crusaders were used for many years.
Zwen Todentäntz: Craftsman and citizen
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Cosmographiae universalis, 1552
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The craftsman appears in Cosmographiae universalis from 1552 and later editions,
but oddly enough he is only employed in the Latin and French edition; not the German ones.
He also appears in Johannes Herold's Heydenweldt und irer Götter anfängcklicher Ursprung, 1554 (page xcix)
Cosmographei: oder beschreibung aller länder, 1550
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The citizen starts — like the senator and the Jew — in 1550 and the image is used up to 5 times in each book.
He is also to be found in Niderlands Beschreibung, 1580 (page clxxi) and
Konrad Lykosthenes' Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon from 1557 (page 623).
Zwen Todentäntz: Astrologer
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Cosmographey: das ist, Beschreibung Aller Länder, 1598 (page dccccxlv)
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There are five different astrologers in the different editions of Cosmographey,
and this particular astrologer is first seen in Cosmographey, 1574.
He also appears in Nikolaus Höniger's Hoffhaltung des Türckhischen Keysers vnd Othomañischen Reichs from 1578 (first part, page ccxxi)
Zwen Todentäntz: Widow
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Cosmographei, oder beschreibung aller länder, 1561. A wise woman.
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The widow starts — like the senator, Jew and citizen — in 1550 and appears up to 4 times in each book.
Among other things the woodcuts illustrates "a wise woman".
She also appears in
Konrad Lykosthenes' Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon from 1557 (pages 236, 286 and 439),
Johannes Herold's Heydenweldt und irer Götter anfängcklicher Ursprung, 1554 (page cl) and
Nikolaus Höniger's Hoffhaltung des Türckhischen Keysers from 1578 and 1596.
Zwen Todentäntz: Harlot
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Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon, 1557
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The image of the harlot was found in Konrad Lykosthenes' Prodigiorum ac ostentorum chronicon from 1557 (pages 344 and 568).
Zwen Todentäntz: Moses
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I have not succeeded in finding the image of Moses with the Ten Commandments.
Zwen Todentäntz: The ossuary
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Cosmographey oder beschreibung aller Länder, 1567
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All the way back from 1544 there has been
an alternative image of a churchyard.
This version of the ossuary that Frölich used in Zwen Todentäntz appeared in Cosmographey in 1550: The same year as the senator, Jew, citizen and widow.
This ossuary is supposed to be a famous one in Morat (German: Murten),
where 10,000 Burgundians were killed in a single battle in 1476.
However, the Morat ossuary didn't really look like this.
The pictures (mostly copied after Holbein)
Only three or four of the woodcuts seem to represent scenes from Basel. These are
the Heathen and wife,
the cook,
the Family Kluber
and maybe
Adam and Eve.
Three others are so free interpretations, that it's hard to say what they are supposed to be copies of. These are the
king,
cardinal and
maiden.
Six of the woodcuts were lost somewhere between Frölich's 1608-edition
and the Mechel Family's edition in 1740.
Front page, 1715
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Front page, 1724
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Front page, 1740
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Front page, 1769
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Front page, 1786
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Front page, 1796
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Front page
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Resources and Links
Further information
Dances of death
Basel
Zwen Todentäntz
