The Dance of Death

by Hans Holbein, Ulinka Rublack (Editor)

Overview

A new departure in Penguin Classics: a book containing one of the greatest of all Renaissance woodcut sequences - Holbein's bravura danse macabre

One of Holbein's first great triumphs, The Dance of Death is an incomparable sequence of tiny woodcuts showing the folly of human greed and pride, with each image packed with drama, wit and horror as a skeleton mocks and terrifies everyone from the emperor to a ploughman. Taking full advantage of the new literary culture of the early 16th century, The Dance of Death took an old medieval theme and made it new.

This edition of The Dance of Death reproduces a complete set from the British Museum, with many details highlighted and examples of other works in this grisly field.

Ulinka Rublack introduces the woodcuts with a remarkable essay on the late medieval danse macabre and the world Holbein lived in.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141396835
Publisher:	Penguin Books, Limited
Publication date:	10/06/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	112 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) was a Swiss and German artist renowned for his portraiture. As a young artist Holbein worked in Basel where he produced one of his well-known works The Dance of Death, a series of 41 wood cuttings on the medieval concept of the danse macabre. In 1526 Holbein travelled to England on Erasmus's recommendation and there he executed some of his most impressive works, such as his portrait of Sir Thomas More. He returned to England in 1532 at a time of political and religious turmoil under Henry VIII's reign and found favour with the Boleyn family and Thomas Cromwell, becoming the King's Painter in 1536. He died in London in 1543.

Table of Contents

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543), remembered today for his insightful portraits, was better known in his own time for his varied and extensive graphic works, the most celebrated of which was The Dance of Death. This work, from the woodblocks of collaborator Hans Lützelburger, was first published in book form in 1538.
The theme of the dance of death was a popular one of the sixteenth century. Holbein captured the feeling of death, the leveler, in its attack on all classes, both sexes, and all ages. A stylized skeleton seizes the child from his mother's breast. The skeleton snatches, plays, tugs, and cavorts throughout the rest of the book. The king, emperor, pope, and cardinal must cease from their functions. The skull is thrust into the face of the astrologer. The hourglass runs out onto the floor. Countess, nun, sailor, peddler, senator are all stopped by the common force. Forty-one finely cut, highly detailed woodcuts capture the single motif, Memento mori: "Remember, you will die." Although the theme is common, the variety of expressions, social groups, backgrounds, styles of dress and architecture, and calls to death are so varied that each one is unique in its power.
This edition, reprinting the unabridged 1538 edition, is the first in a series reprinting great rare books from the Rosenwald Collection. Besides the woodcuts, the book contains a prefatory letter by Jean de Vauzéle and various quotations, depictions, and meditations on death, deaths of men, and the necessity of death. A repeated series of the 41 woodblocks follows the reprinted work and contains English translations of the quotations and verses. Art historians and social historians will find this to be one of the best depictions of class life caught at its fateful moment. The collector will find this to be the finest reproduction of one of Holbein's major works.
Dover unabridged republication of the original 1538 edition of Les simulachres & historiees faces de la mort.