The Preacher

Sleep well.

George Scharffenberg has written his initials.

t would seem that the preacher is not successful in getting his message through: The woman in the left side of the picture is about to doze off, and the man leans his heads against the pulpit, sleeping soundly. Most other members of the congregation have rather interesting expressions in their face. Is it a coincidence(1) that the Bible quote above the picture in Scharffenbergs book is from Daniel 12? »Viel auß den, die im Staub der Erden Schlafen, die sollen wieder werden Erwachen« — or in English: many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.

Death is dressed in a stole (long strip of material worn by Catholic ecclesiastics). It's a bit difficult to see what Death has in his hand. Some commentators suggest that it's a bone, maybe even a jaw bone, symbolizing that the preacher uses his own jaw too much. Some even think that Death is about to strike the preacher with the bone!

Personally I think it looks like a paper-tape with a pseudo-inscription, and several of the artists agree in this. The picture to the right is by Georg Scharffenberg, who thought the paper strip a convenient place to write his own initials: G.S.

Emblems of Mortality, 1810

Alexander Anderson (picture to the left) has given Death a strip, upon which is clearly written AMEN. Again, it is to be wished that Holbein had added a title and a dialogue, which unambiguously could tell us, what the picture is all about.


On Aplas von Rom kan man wol selig werden, durch anzaigung der götlichen hailigen geschryfft (1518)	Beclagung aines leyens genant Hanns schwalb über vil mißbreüch Christliches lebens, vnd darinn begriffen kürzlich von Johannes Hußsen (1521)

he picture of the preacher in the pulpit is reminiscent of a woodcut that was used in several pamphlets in the beginning of the 1500's. To the right are »On Aplas von Rom« (=without indulgences from Rome) from 1518 and »Beclagung Hanns Schwalb« from 1521. Here too, we see the hooded congregation sitting on their small stools. There's even an hourglass behind the preacher — just like in Holbein's picture.

The preacher stands in the pulpit selling a letter of indulgence, the people at the table to the right are filling out the letters of indulgence, and a churchgoer in the middle of the picture throws the payment into a box. In the middle of the church is a cross with a crown of thorns, but Jesus has left the church. All this godlessness may explain why the congregation in Holbein's picture have such sleepy eyes, wandering glances and even hostile facial expressions.

The little pamphlets were published more or less anonymously, but Heinrich Vogtherr is thought to have cut the frontispiece. In that case, it must have been odd for Vogtherr, when in 1544 he made his copy of Holbein's dance of death and now was copying a copy of his own preacher.

Variations: Hollar's hourglass is so indistinct that it's hard to see. Deuchar has missed the hourglass, when he copied Hollar. Deuchar gives Death a bone in his hand, so this is an example (the only one?) of Deuchar not always copying Hollar.
The unknown English artist has given Death a small bone in his hand, which might indicate that he has copied Deuchar — and not Hollar or Birckmann. But on the other hand he has remembered Hollar's indistinct hourglass.