s the sun sets, Death drags the bishop away.
The bishop's crosier is a shepherd's crook, men apparently the bishop is a bad shepherd,
since the sheep as well as the congregation are running bewildered around.
The alternative interpretation is that the sheep and the congregation are lost
because Death has taken their shepherd away. This interpretation is supported
by the Bible quote that the publisher has placed above the picture —
Matthew 26:31,
»[…] I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad«.
The sheep are the same as those on Holbein's woodcut from The Old Testament (picture to the left).
Holbein's dance of death has also inspired the dance of death in Chur in Switzerland - see picture to the right.
Variations: Aldegrever as usually makes a free interpretation
and Eberhard Kieser copies Aldegrever.
Scharffenberg forgets to draw humans and sheep in the background.
Vogtherr places the sun in the middle of the picture close to a village and "forgets" to draw the hourglass.
The print of the bishop is the one that clearest show who copies whom.
Holbein lets sun set over a hilltop.
Birckmann lets — presumably — the sun set over a lake,
but the mirror image is all wrong. Valvasor copies Birckmann with the bad mirror image.
Hollar copies Birckmann but fixes the image so the mirror image is bigger and placed
correctly. Deuchar copies Hollar with the correct mirror image.
In 1816 the worn-down plates for Hollar's etchings are "freshened up", and faces are added to the suns.
Wildridge copies the two suns with their faces, so it's no longer apparent
that it's supposed to be a mirror image in a lake.
The confusion is total. Small wonder the congregation are running bewildered away.
Holbein (original): The sun over the hill
Birckmann (mirrored) adds a little sun in the lake
Valvasor copies the little sun
Hollar makes the sun look like a real mirror reflection
Deuchar (mirrored) copies Hollar
Hollar 1816 is "improved", so the suns get faces
Wildridge copies the "improved" etching with faces
s the sun sets, Death drags the bishop away.
The bishop's crosier is a shepherd's crook, men apparently the bishop is a bad shepherd,
since the sheep as well as the congregation are running bewildered around.
Dances of death
Holbein