The Nun
© The Trustees of the British Museum
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JMJ
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Klein-Basel, Abbess
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Death is disguised as a monk and the nun follows quietly along —
in contrast to the monk (letter O).
There was
nothing new in the thought that good people did not fear Death - who was simply a messenger from God.
Holbein might have looked at the dance of death in Klingental (picture to the left)
in his own hometown Basel or he might have
had a copy of Heidelberg's block book from 1465 (picture below to the right).
Heidelberger block book, the nun follows Death smilingly.
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The accompanying text for this letter goes: »Eyn weg ist der dem menschen würd gesehen gerecht /
aber syne letzten füren in zu dem todt«.
This is from The Book of Proverbs 14:12, which in Luther's version sounds:
»Manchem scheint ein Weg recht;
aber zuletzt bringt er ihn zum Tode«.
In English:
»There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death«.
Various artists
Polydori Vergilii (1532)
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The dance of death
Alphabet
Holbein
Q
