The Preacher
The Preacher
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Emanuel Büchel, 1773
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The preacher is preaching, and as the watercolour
by Büchel (to the right) shows, this takes place
close to the charnel house.
The 9 listeners are distributed among 3 clergymen (pope, cardinal and bishop),
3 nobles (emperor, empress and king) and 3 "ordinary humans" (a peasant and two undefined citizens).
This plate is signed "M.Merian fec[it]".
The text is from the Book of Daniel chapter 12:
2: »And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.«
3: »And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.«
After the restoration of the mural in 1568, the preacher got the face
of the German-Swiss reformer Johannes Ökolampadius,
who is dressed in a post-reformatory priestly gown
(In Basel, the Reformation was ushered in in 1529).
| English translation from Beck, 1852 |
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The Preacher's Word. Daniel, ch. XII.
Many of those who sleep in dust
Shall wake again; God says they must
Arise and at His Judgment seat
Receive what for their works is meet;
Some life eternal, others grief
And endless pain without relief;
Those who are wise shall brightly shine
In heavenly light and joy divine;
And they, who many souls have taught
And wanderers back to God have brought
Shall like the stars in glory be
Made bright to all eternity.
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Various Artists
Dances of death
Basel
Preacher
