David Chytraeus
The start of the section "Imagines Mortis Illustratæ"
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The start of another section of De Morte et Vita Aeterna.
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avid Chytræus (1530-1600) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor in Rostock.
He was the brother of the 13 years younger Nathan Chytræus, who published "Der Alte Todtendantz Sächsisch".
The family was originally named Kochhafe, and the German word Kochhafen means cauldron.
The family then assumed the Greek word for cauldron, χυτρα,
which in Latin became "Chytræus".
David Chytræus' book »De Morte et Vita Aeterna«
was a collection of several booklets. One of these sections was "Imagines Mortis Illustratæ",
which contained the text from Hans Holbein's great dance of death —
i.e. a long sequence of Bible quotes together with Gilles Corrozet's four-lined poems.
Several editions of this book were text-only, but in the edition from 1590 the publisher didn't just
copy the Bible quotes and poems from Holbein — he also added
53 rough copies of Holbein's woodcuts-
Cardinal
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Soldier
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It's a bit hard to figure out, just which images the artist
had studied when he made his copies.
Sometimes he follows the variations invented by
Birckmann, and sometimes he seems to follow the original Holbein-woodcuts.
Roughly speaking, the artist is following Birckmann in the start of the dance.
In the woodcut of the pope (further down on this page), the artist lets Death crawl behind the pope, just like Birckmann,
and in the woodcut of the emperor, the emperor turns his face away from the broken sword.
The clearest example is the cardinal (to the left), where the artist is the only of the many copyists
to include Birckmann's espalier behind the cardinal.
In the woodcut of the soldier (to the right), the artist has obviously copied the original Holbein-woodcut,
where Death is armed with a large bone, while
Birckmann has replaced the bone with an arrow.
The hardest one to determine is the knight:
Holbein
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Chytræus
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Birckmann
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In Chytræus' woodcut the knight's sword
points towards the edge of the picture - just like in Birckmann's variant -
instead of pointing towards the centre as it does
in Holbein's original woodcut.
On the other hand the knight's posture: One hand on the sword and the hind leg raised — is copied from Holbein.
The pope
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The senator
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In the woodcut of the pope (to the left) the two devils have been left out.
The little devil using a pair of bellows to blow devilish ideas into
the senator's ears has disappeared too.
Duchess
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Hans Lützelburger's initials are replaced by a cross.
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Several of the woodcuts are adorned by a small cross,
which evidently is the personal mark of the woodcutter.
This is particularly true for the woodcut of the duchess,
where Hans Lützelburger's initials on the bedpost has been replaced
by this signature.
De Morte et Vita Aeterna was translated into Danish in 1591.
Read more about Dødsens Billedes bescriffuelse.
Links & Resources
Other interpreters of Holbein's dance of death
Chytraeus' little brother published "Der Alte Todtendantz Sächsisch".
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Dances of death
Holbein's dance of death
Chytraeus
