Table of Contents

• Lübeck

  • The text from 1463 (illustrated with photos of the painting)
    • The preacher, Death speaks to all, The pope, The emperor, The empress, The cardinal, The king, The bishop, The duke, The abbot, The knight, The Carthusian, The nobleman, The canon, The mayor, The physician, The usurer, The curate, The merchant, The parish clerk, The craftsman, The hermit, The peasant, The youth, The maiden, The baby
    • Jacob von Melle is our only source for the old text. Is he reliable?
    • Wilhelm Mantels and the infamous wood table theory
    • Bernt Notke who painted the dance of death in 1463 (maybe)
      • Did Bernt Notke paint the dances of death in Lübeck and Tallinn?
      • St. George and the Dragon in Stockholm's cathedral (attributed to Notke)
        • Is St. George and the dragon an allegory over the battle of Brunkeberg?
        • Has Bernt Notke created St. George and the dragon?
      • The Mass of St. Gregory in Marienkirche in Lübeck (attributed to Notke)
      • The Trinity altarpiece in Lübeck (attributed to Notke)
      • The Triumphal Cross in Lübeck's Cathedral (attributed to Notke)
  • The new text from 1701 (illustrated with the engravings of Ludewig Suhl
    • Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
    • Nathanael Schlott authored the new text
    • Den Lybekske Dødning-Dantz (only in the Danish section)
    • Thomas Nugent: Travels through Germany - With a particular account of the courts of Mecklenburg.
    • Anton Wortmann copied the painting in 1701. How good a copy did he make?
  • Pictures (reproductions of the painting in Lübeck)
    • Ludewig Suhl
    • Ludwig Hauttmann
    • Robert Geißler
    • Brødrene Borchers
    • Carl Julius Milde
  • Printed books (books, where the text draws on Lübeck's dance of death)
    • Des dodes dantz Lübeck, 1489
      • Index, Prologue, Death to the pope, Pope, Emperor, Empress, Cardinal, King, Bishop, Duke, Abbot, Knight Templar, Monk, Knight, Canon, Mayor, Physician, Nobleman, Hermit, Citizen, Student, Merchant, Nun, Craftsman, Church warden, Peasant, Beguine, Rider, Maiden, Journeyman, Nurse with child, Epilogue
    • Dodendantz Lübeck, 1520
      • Prologue, Pope, Cardinal, Bishop, Emperor, Empress, King, Duke, Abbot, Crusader, Physician, Canon, Parish Priest, Monk, Knight, Official, Hermit, Burgomaster, Nun, Merchant, Nobleman, Maiden, Burgher, Beguine, Fool, Craftsman, Student, Peasant, Rider, Journeyman, Nurse with child
      • The complete text from Dodendantz
    • Copenhagen's Dance of Death Copenhagen, 1550
      • Pope, Emperor, Empress, King, Duke, Cardinal, Bishop, Abbot, German Templar, Physician, Canon, Vicar, Monk, Knight, Official, Hermit, Mayor, Nun, Merchant, Young lord, Maid, Citizen, Beguine, Jester, Craftsman, Student, Peasant, Rider, Nurse with child, Journeyman (The final sermon is only available in the Danish section)
      • Danish article by Lauritz Nielsen about the printer Hans Vingaard.
      • A poem, that might hint at the author and year of publication.
      • A conjecture about the original title of Copenhagen's Dance of Death.
    • Dødedantz Copenhagen, 1634
      • Part 1, Part 2 (Note: page openings 21 through 24 are the same as 39 through 42 in Copenhagen's Dance of Death (in the Danish section).)
    • Is Dodendantz older than Des dodes dantz?
    • How old is Copenhagen's Dance of Death?
  • The dance of death in Tallinn (Estonia)
    • Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
    • Restoring the fragment in Tallinn
    • Is the fragment in Tallinn a remnant from Lübeck? No it isn't:
      • Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
  • Odds and ends about Lübeck
    • Historical timeline with photos of St. Mary's church from 1906 to 2001.
    • The chapel before the bombardment.
    • The chapel today (with stained glass windows).

• Other dances of death

  • Berlin's dance of death
    • The text from Berlin's dance of death
      • Prologue, Sacristan, Curate, Official, Augustin friar, Preacher, Parish priest, Carthusian, Physician, Monk, Canon, Abbot, Bishop, Cardinal, Pope, Jesus on the cross, Emperor, Empress, King, Duke, Knight, Mayor, Usurer, Nobleman, Merchant, Craftsman, Peasant, Landlady, Cook / Fool, Mother and child
    • Berlin's dance of death and Dodendantz
  • The dance of death in London (st. Paul's cathedral)
    • Words of the translator, Words of the authority, Pope & emperor, Cardinal & king, Patriark & constable, Archbishop & baron, Princess, Bishop & squire, Abbot, abbess & bailif, Astronomer & burgess, Canon & merchant, Carthusian & sergent, Monk & usurer, Physician & squire, Man of law & minstrel, Conjuror, Parson & labourer, Friar minor & child, Clerk & hermit, The king lying dead, Translator's words
  • Oberdeutscher
    • The dance of death in Basel (Switzerland)
      • Todten-tantz, Isaiah, Preacher, Charnel house, Pope, Emperor, Empress, King, Queen, Cardinal, Bishop, Duke, Duchess, Count, Abbot, Knight, Juror, Councilman, Canon, Physician, Nobleman, Noblewoman, Merchant, Abbess, Cripple, Hermit, Young man, Usurer, Young woman, Musician, Herold, Mayor, Executioner, Fool, Peddler, Blind man, Jew, Heathen, Heathen woman, Cook, Peasant, Child, Painter, Mother and child, Turk, Adam and Eve, Memento Mori, Double portrait
        
        Books that reproduce the dance of death in Basel:
        Der Todendantz
        Huldrich Frölich
        Coloured gouaches
        Hans Bock the Elder
        Matthew Merian
         o  Merian's preface (German text)
        Emanuel Büchel
        Hans Kluber
        Jacques-Anthony Chovin
        Rudolf Feyerabend
        Hieronymus Hess
        Beck
        Felix Schneider
        Kleinbasel / Klingental
    • Heidelberg's Blockbook
      • Sermon, pope, emperor, empress, king, patriarch, archbishop, cardinal, bishop, duke, count, knight, abbot, juror, canon, physician, nobleman, noblewoman, merchant, pharmacist, nun, cook, peasant, cripple, mother, child
    • Death's Dance, or Line of the Dead?
    • The World's oldest dance of death manuscript
      • The text
    • Five texts
  • The dances of death by Hans Holbein.
    • Holbein's dance of death alphabet - all 24 letters.
      • A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z
    • Holbein's great dance of death
      • Creation, Temptation, Expulsion, Punishment, 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, miser, 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, boys
        
        Artists who have copied Holbein's dance of death:
        Hans Holbein (1538) - the original woodcuts
        Heinrich Aldegrever (1541)
        Heinrich Vogtherr (1544)
        Arnold Birckmann (1555)
        Scharffenberg (1576)
        Peter Paul Rubens (1600-1610)
        David Chytraeus (1590)
        Eberhard Kieser (1617)
        Wenceslaus Hollar (1651)
        De doodt vermaskert (1654)
        Johann Weichard von Valvasor (1682)
        Salomon van Rusting (1707)
        Christian de Mechel (1780)
        David Deuchar (1788)
        John Bewick (1789)
        Alexander Anderson (1810)
        Wenceslaus Hollar (1816)
        Pseudo-Bewick (1825)
        Ludwig Bechstein (1831)
        Joseph Schlotthauer (1832)
        Francis Douce (1833)
        Carl Helmuth (1836)
        Tindall Wildridge (1887)
    • Holbein's dagger sheath
    • Holbein's dance of death isn't a dance of death, but an emblem book.
  • Danish Dances of Death
    • Lübeck's dance of death as seen by Hans Christian Andersen.
    • Dances of death in Danish churches
      • Nørre Alslev & Egtved
      • Jungshoved & Ørslev
      • Malmø
        • Malmø: pope, emperor, bishop, king, queen and citizen
      • Ronneby
    • Chytræus: Dødsens Billedes bescriffuelse
    • Typus Omnium Morientium (printed in Copenhagen, 1622)
      • Part 2
    • Døde-dands (printed in Copenhagen, 1762)
      • Dead men's music, Pope, Emperor, King, Jew, Turk, Lovers, Old man, Old woman, Children, Jesus' victory over Death, Psalm. 90 Chap. 12 v.
    • The story about the Danish ship flag from 1427 (only in the Danish section)

• Various subjects

  • Introduction to the dance of death as an art from
    • Part 2, Part 3
  • The moral of the story
  • The dance of death as a mirror
  • Adam, Eve and the original sin.
  • God's wounds and the Man of Sorrows
  • The black death (plague).
  • Apocalypse Now and Death as a thief in the night.
  • The Reformation
  • Make your own dance of death (and find out why Dodendantz is so jumbled).
  • La Danse macabre in Cimetière des Innocents, Paris

• About this site

  • Site map (you're reading it now! )
  • Read my guest book
  • Sign my guest book
  • Contact information

Don't forget to take a look at all the pictures.

Dansk The dance of death Site Map