Hans Holbein's Dances of Death

Dagger sheath by Holbein.
Dagger sheath by Holbein.

H ans Holbein the Younger was born during the winter 1497-1498 in Germany. He moved to Basel (Switzerland) in 1514 where he acquired fame from his woodcuts. In 1532 he moved to England where he became known for his realistic portraits. He painted about 150 portraits - including prospective wives for Henry VIIIth. Holbein died October 1543 from the plaque.

In this section we will examine three works by Holbein:

Was the dance of death designed by Holbein?

Creation
Temptation
The Expulsion
After the Fall
All men's bones
Pope
Emperor
King
Cardinal
Empress
Queen
Bishop
Duke
Abbot
Abbess
Nobleman
Canon
Judge
Advocate
Senator
Preacher
Priest
Monk
Nun
Old Woman
Physician
Astrologer
Gnier
Merchant
Sailor
Knight
count
Old man
Countess
Noblewoman
Duchess
Peddler
Peasant
Child
The Last Judgment
The escutcheon of Death
Soldier
Waggoner
Gambler
Robber
Blind Man
Beggar
Drunkard
Fool
Young Woman
Young man
Children

Holbein's Les Simulachres: Creation
Les Simulachres (1538)
Holbein, the dance of death alphabet
The dance of death alphabet. Signed by Hans Lützelburger

T he many editions of Les Simulachres & historiees faces de la Mort vary concerning title, number of woodcuts, subtitles, language — and which books they are bundled together with (even in 1538, 41-58 small pictures was too little to fill an entire volume). The only thing the various editions have in common is that the artist behind the woodcut is anonymous.

Both the alphabet and the dance of death were published without Holbein's name - this is probably because of the critical attitude towards the Church, e.g. the pope. Therefore there has been a great deal of speculations about the authors of the works. Today the scholars agree to point at Holbein and Lützelburger. Some of the reasons are:

Holbein: Bible from 1538
Bible from 1538 with The Creation by Holbein
Holbein, Historiarum Veteris Testamenti
1547: Bible-illustrations with The Creation.

Let us look at two examples of the latter:

In 1538, the same year that the Trechsel Brothers published Holbein's dance of death for the first time, they also published The Old Testament illustrated by Holbein. The first picture was the Creation, which was taken from the dance of death (to the left).

In 1547 the woodcuts from The Old Testament were published separately — along with some didactic poems under the name Historiarum Veteris Testamenti. Here the publisher included the 4 woodcuts from the dance of death. To the right is The Creation.

In the preface, Holbein's good friend Nicolaus Bourbon wrote a poem, where he shamelessly compared Holbein to the great masters of Antiquity. In Elysium, Apelles is bewailing to Parrhasius and Zeuxis, the living painter, by whom their fame is now perfectly eclipsed: »Holbius est homini nomen, qui nomina nostra Obscura ex claris ac propč nulla fecit«.

In this section about Holbein


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