The Cripple

Cripple

Placement in the painting

Todten-Capelle:
Ich bin wohl ein elender Krippel
und tantz doch nach des Todes trippel.

Death mercilessly attacks the cripple. The cripple is missing one foot, but Death is missing both.

The text is from Todten-Capelle:

A "triple" is presumably a "triple step" dance, where three steps are done on two main beats — as oposed to two-step.

Basel: beggar

Sterbensspiegel: Beggars

The painting is somewhat more violent than the calm drawing in Todten-Capelle.

To find parallels, we can look at the dance in Basel (left), where Death is also missing one foot. It is not unusual for Death to imitate his victim, but it is a mockery to use a stick as a wooden leg.

With regard to the violence, we can look at the very Christian Sterbensspiegel (right), where a whole army of Deaths attack a group of beggars, but strangely enough, leaves Lazarus the beggar alone.

Dances of death Danish dances of death National museum Cripple