The Monk
© The Trustees of the British Museum
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JMJ
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The Holbein Dagger: The protesting monk.
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The monk is dragged away - screaming and protesting - in contrast to the nun
(letter Q).
Holbein probably found inspiration for the protesting monk in his earlier work,
the Holbein Dagger (picture to the left).
If you're wondering why the monk is protesting so violently, then take a look at
Holbein's great dance of death (picture below to the right).
Holbein's dance of death, the monk
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The accompanying text for this letter goes: »Aber ir werden sterben wie die menschen
vnnd werdt fallen wie eyner von den fürsten.«.
This is from Psalms 82,7 which in Luther's version sounds:
»aber ihr werdet sterben wie Menschen und wie ein Tyrann zugrunde gehen.«.
In English:
»But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.«.
Various artists
Polydori Vergilii (1532)
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The dance of death
Alphabet
Holbein
O
