ans Holbein's so-called great dance of death became incredibly popular.
The original woodcuts were reprinted for more than 100 years until they were worn away beyond repair.
Countless artists made their own copies and interpretations
through several centuries (see a partial list at the bottom of this page).
The strange part is that Holbein's dance of death isn't really a dance of death, but an emblem book, and that Holbein's popularity resulted in the end of the "real" dances of death.
The creation
The temptation
The expulsion
After the Fall
Bones of all men
The pope
The emperor
The king
The cardinal
The empress
The queen
The bishop
the duke
The abbot
The abbess
The nobleman
The canon
The judge
The advocate
The senator
The preacher
The priest
The monk
The nun
The old woman
The physician
The astrologer
The rich man
The merchant
The seaman
The knight
The count
The old man
The countess
The noblewoman
The duchess
The peddler
The peasant
The child
The Last Judgment
The escutcheon of Death
Soldier
Waggoner
Gamesters
Robber
Blind man
Beggar
Drunkard
Fool
Bride
Groom
Children
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| Is the cardinal in the proces of selling indulgences? Or has he just received his promotional papers? |
olbein and Lützelburger produced the great dance of death
between 1522 and 1526, but for several years the woodcuts were only published in the form
of broadsheets (incorrectly referred to as "printer's proofs").
Each sheet would typically contain 10 woodcuts and most of these publications
only consist of 40 woodcuts with
the astrologer missing.
The reason is probably the simple fact that
40 is a nice round number, which is easy to distribute on 4 printed pages.
Above the woodcuts were German titles
like Vsstribung Ade Eue and
Der Rych man.
In 1538 the woodcuts were finally published in the form of a book. Now each picture was furnished with a bible quote at the top and a four-lined poem by Gilles Corozet below.
In that way the pictures became a part of an emblem book — a fact that is reflected in the title of John Bewick's and Alexander Anderson's copies: »Emblems of mortality«.
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| An emblem |
An emblem was a popular art form, consisting of 3 elements (see picture to the left):
1) A motto (in this case one or two Bible quotes).
2) An allegorical picture.
3) A moralizing poem.
Thus the pictures and the text don't form a unit, since the text had been added at a later time, when Lützelburger had been dead for 12 years and Holbein was living in London. If Holbein ever had a text in his mind to accompany his woodcuts, it has disappeared for ever.
In contrast to the earlier monumental dances of death — like those in Lübeck, Berlin, Tallinn, Basel, Paris and London — there's is no preacher with introducing and concluding sermons. The preacher is just another member in the series.
|
| Is the bishop a bad shepherd? Or is the flock only scattered because Death takes him away? |
The German titles are gone, and the 4-lined verses are just a general moral that doesn't have much bearing on the picture. Therefore it's often hard to guess, what goes on in the pictures. Is it a rich man or a miser? Is it a noblewoman or a newly married couple? Is it a countess or a bride?
Worst of all, there's no dialogue between Death and the dying. One has to make up ones own story. Is the cardinal selling indulgences? Or has he just received his promotion? Is the bishop a bad shepherd? Or does the sheep and the congregation start running astray because Death takes the "shepherd" away? What is it Death has in his hand behind the preacher? Is Death helping the peasant plowing the field? Or is he about to run the horses (and the peasant) to death? What's the story behind the young man?
The popularity of Holbein's dance of death meant that he de facto redefined the genre — and that the old monumental dances of death in Lübeck, Tallinn, Basel, Paris, London and Berlin went out of fashion. Let's therefore examine the difference between these "old dances of death" and Holbein's emblems:
| Before Holbein (monumental dances) | After Holbein (emblems) |
|---|---|
| All participants are shown in one great dance(1) — often a chain dance. | Independent scenes. Death threatens constantly and everywhere - in the cabin, in the cellar, in the castle, in the forest, in the plough-field, on the highway and at sea. |
| The victims have apparently died simultaneously - probably from the Black Death. | People die at different times. Typical causes of death are war and accidents. |
| Death skips around to each dancer. The text makes it clear that the mummy in the burial shroud is Death himself. | There are often 2 Deaths for each human, and they can be male and female. |
| Death is a messenger - announcing to the dead that the time is up. | Death causes destruction - drags people away, trips the senator up and fights the count. |
| Death is equipped with a scythe in order to reap the "ripe harvest". Revelation 14:15: »[…] Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe«. | Death doesn't wait for any "ripening", but runs a lance through the knight and breaks the mast of the ship. |
| Dialogue between Death and the dying that helps explaining the picture. | Vaguely relevant bible quotes that were added more than 10 years after Holbein finished the pictures, and after Holbein had left the country. |
| Death supplies us with a moral of the story. | The didactic (instructive) element is gone — all one sees is one or more Deaths attacking the living in gleeful destruction. |
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| Birckmann's copies have inspired Valvasor, Hollar and Deuchar. |
|
| Groß-Basel, the usurer in the field. |
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| Holbein's dance of death, the miser in the cellar. |
(1) One great dance...: The only pre-Holbein exception that comes to my mind is the dance of death in Basel where the usurer is sitting behind a desk (picture to the left). The straws and tufts show plainly that he is sitting out of doors - together with the other dancers. The desk is the miser's attribute, not location. Compare with Holbein's version (to the right), which clearly takes place indoors.
Dansk 
The dance of death
Holbein
Emblem books