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The image of the moneychanger also shows the difference compared to the traditional dances of death. In Basel (where the dance is about 25 years older than "Mors de la Pomme"), everything takes place outdoors. Even though the usurer is sitting behind his table, he is clearly out in the grassy field, just like the authority from La Danse Macabre.
In Holbein's woodcut, which is approx. 60 years younger than "Mors de la Pomme", the rich man / usurer is down in the cellar behind a double iron lattice. The picture at the top of the page shows something in between: The moneychanger is indoors, but not so enclosed that the citizen (and Death) cannot come in.
| Death You who amass treasures you need to pay attention to me. You have enough of worldly goods; 324 you should have strived for higher goods. |
The contrast between earthly treasures and "higher goods" is probably an allusion to Matthew 6:20: »lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal«.
| Moneychanger |
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La mort Le changeur Le bourgois |
Dances of death
Various
Mors de la Pomme
Moneychanger