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*The Dance of Death* (1493) by Michael Wolgemut, from the *Liber chronicarum* by Hartmann Schedel.

Dance of Death, also variously called Danse Macabre (French), Danza Macabra (Italian and Spanish), Dança da Morte (Portuguese), Totentanz (German), Dodendans (Dutch), is a late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter one's station in life, the Dance of Death unites all. There is also a strong element of estates satire. The Danse Macabre consists of the dead or personified Death summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave, typically with a pope, emperor, king, youngster, and labourer. They were produced to remind people of the fragility of their lives and how vain were the glories of earthly life.^[1] Its origins are postulated from illustrated sermon texts; the earliest recorded visual scheme was a now lost mural in the cemetery of the Holy Innocents in Paris dating from 1424-25.

Paintings

Pieter Brueghel the Elder, *The Triumph of Death* (c.1562) in the Museo del Prado, Madrid. Brueghel was strongly influenced by the style of Hieronymus Bosch.

The earliest recorded visual example is from the cemetery of the Church of the Holy Innocents in Paris (1424-25). There were also painted schemes in Basel (the earliest dating from c.1440); a series of paintings on canvas by Bernt Notke, in Lübeck (1463); and woodcuts designed in the early 1520s by Hans Holbein the Younger and executed by Hans Lützelburger (published 1538).

The deathly horrors of the 14th century—such as recurring famines; the Hundred Years' War in France; and, most of all, the Black Death—were culturally assimilated throughout Europe. The omnipresent possibility of sudden and painful death increased the religious desire for penitence, but it also evoked a hysterical desire for amusement while still possible; a last dance as cold comfort. The danse macabre combines both desires: in many ways similar to the mediaeval mystery plays, the dance-with-death allegory was originally a didactic dialogue poem to remind people of the inevitability of death and to advise them strongly to be prepared at all times for death (see memento mori and Ars moriendi).

Short verse dialogues between Death and each of its victims, which could have been performed as plays, can be found in the direct aftermath of the Black Death in Germany (where it was known as the Totentanz, and in Spain as la Danza de la Muerte). The French term danse macabre may derive from Latin Chorea Machabæorum, literally "dance of the Maccabees."^{[citation needed]} 2 Maccabees, a deuterocanonical book of the Bible in which the grim martyrdom of a mother and her seven sons is described, was a well-known mediaeval subject. It is possible that the Maccabean Martyrs were commemorated in some early French plays or that people just associated the book’s vivid descriptions of the martyrdom with the interaction between Death and its prey. Both the dialogues and the evolving paintings were ostensive penitential lessons that even illiterate people (who were the overwhelming majority) could understand. However, it would be incorrect to regard the Dance of Death as a religious theme: its didactic message was not just about mortality, but also about society with strong elements of satire.

Furthermore, frescoes and murals dealing with death had a long tradition and were widespread; e.g., the legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead: on a ride or hunt, three young gentlemen meet three cadavers (sometimes described as their ancestors) who warn them, Quod fuimus, estis; quod sumus, vos eritis (What we were, you are; what we are, you will be). Numerous if often simple mural versions of that legend from the 13th century onwards have survived (for instance, in the hospital church of Wismar or the residential Longthorpe Tower outside Peterborough). Since they showed pictorial sequences of men and corpses covered with shrouds, those paintings can be regarded as cultural precursors of the new genre.

A danse macabre painting may show a round dance headed by Death or a chain of alternating dead and live dancers. From the highest ranks of the mediaeval hierarchy (usually pope and emperor) descending to its lowest (beggar, peasant, and child), each mortal’s hand is taken by a skeleton or an extremely decayed body. The famous Totentanz in Lübeck’s Marienkirche (destroyed during the Allied Bombing of Lübeck in World War II) presented the dead dancers as very lively and agile, making the impression that they were actually dancing, whereas their living dancing partners looked clumsy and passive. The apparent class distinction in almost all of these paintings is completely neutralized by Death as the ultimate equalizer, so that a sociocritical element is subtly inherent to the whole genre. The Totentanz of Metzin, for example, shows how a pope crowned with his tiara is being led into hell by the dancing Death.

Lübecker Totentanz by Bernt Notke (around 1463, destroyed in a bombing raid in 1942).

Usually, a short dialogue is attached to each victim, in which Death is summoning him (or, more rarely, her) to dance and the summoned is moaning about impending death. In the first printed Totentanz textbook (Anon.: Vierzeiliger oberdeutscher Totentanz, Heidelberger Blockbuch, approx. 1460), Death addresses, for example, the emperor:

Her keyser euch hilft nicht das swert

Czeptir vnd crone sint hy nicht wert

Ich habe euch bey der hand genomen

Ir must an meynen reyen komen

Emperor, your sword won’t help you out

Sceptre and crown are worthless here

I’ve taken you by the hand

For you must come to my dance

At the bottom end of the Totentanz, Death calls, for example, the peasant to dance, and he answers:

Ich habe gehabt [vil arbeit gross]

Der sweis mir du[rch die haut floss]

Noch wolde ich ger[n dem tod empfliehen]

Zo habe ich des glu[cks nit hie]

I had to work very much and very hard

The sweat was running down my skin

I’d like to escape death nonetheless

But here I won’t have any luck

Printing

The earliest known depiction of a print shop appears in a printed image of the Dance of Death, in 1499, in Lyon, by Mattias Huss. It depicts a compositor at his station, which is raised to facilitate his work, and a person running the press. To the right of the print shop, an early book store is shown. Early print shops were gathering places for the literati.

Musical settings

Musical examples include

Mattasin oder Toden Tanz, 1598, by August Nörmiger
Totentanz. Paraphrase on "Dies irae." by Franz Liszt, 1849, a set of variations based on the plainchant melody "Dies Irae."
Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, 1874
Песни и пляски смерти, 1875–77, by Modest Mussorgsky
Symphony No. 4, 2nd Movement, 1901, by Gustav Mahler
Totentanz der Prinzipien, 1914, by Arnold Schoenberg
The Green Table, 1932, ballet by Kurt Jooss
"Scherzo (Dance of Death)," in Op. 14 Ballad of Heroes, 1939, by Benjamin Britten
Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67, 4th movement, "Dance of Death," 1944, by Dmitri Shostakovich
Der Kaiser von Atlantis, oder Die Tod-Verweigerung, 1944, by Viktor Ullmann and Peter Kien
The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites, 1964, by John Fahey, includes the song "Dance of Death," a finger-style guitar solo in G minor tuning.
Dance with Death, 1968, by Andrew Hill
Black Angels, 1971, by George Crumb, with a danse macabre at the end of part one, "Departure."
Dance of Death, 2003, by Iron Maiden
Cantabile, 2nd movement "Cortège & Danse Macabre" (based on the poem "Cortège funèbre"), 2009, by Frederik Magle

Notes

^ "Dance of Death". Catholic Encyclopedia. 2007.02.20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

References

Israil Bercovici (1998) O sută de ani de teatru evriesc în România ("One hundred years of Yiddish/Jewish theater in Romania"), 2nd Romanian-language edition, revised and augmented by Constantin Măciucă. Editura Integral (an imprint of Editurile Universala), Bucharest. ISBN 973-98272-2-5.
James M. Clark (1950) The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
André Corvisier (1998) Les danses macabres, Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN 2-13-049495-1.
Rolf Paul Dreier (2010) Der Totentanz - ein Motiv der kirchlichen Kunst als Projektionsfläche für profane Botschaften (1425-1650), Leiden, ISBN 978-90-90251-11-0 with CD-Rom: Verzeichnis der Totentänze, also on http://www.totentanz.nl
Romania, National Library of ... - Illustrated Latin translation of the Danse macabre, late 15th century. treasure 4

External links

A collection of historical images of the Danse Macabre at Cornell's The Fantastic in Art and Fiction
Holbein's Totentanz

[1] "Dance of Death". Catholic Encyclopedia. 2007.02.20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[1]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{Redirect|Dance of Death|other uses|Dance of Death (disambiguation)|and|Dance of the Dead (disambiguation)}}
 [[File:Holbein-death.png|right|framed|''The Dance of Death'' (1493) by [[Michael Wolgemut]], from the ''Liber chronicarum'' by [[Hartmann Schedel]].]]
-'''''Dance of Death''''', also variously called  '''''Danse Macabre''''' (French), '''''Danza Macabra''''' (Italian and Spanish), '''''Dança da Morte''''' (Portuguese), or '''''Totentanz''''' (German), is a [[Middle Ages|late-medieval]] [[allegory]] on the universality of [[death]]: no matter one's station in life, the dance of death unites all. ''La Danse Macabre'' consists of the [[personified death]] leading a row of dancing figures from all walks of life to the [[Grave (burial)|grave]], typically with an [[emperor]], [[monarch|king]], youngster, and beautiful girl—all [[skeleton|skeletal]]. They were produced to remind people of the fragility of their lives and how vain were the glories of earthly life.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04617a.htm | title=Dance of Death | date=2007.02.20 | work=[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> Its origins are postulated from illustrated sermon texts; the earliest artistic examples are in a cemetery in Paris from 1424.
+'''''Dance of Death''''', also variously called  '''''Danse Macabre''''' (French), '''''Danza Macabra''''' (Italian and Spanish), '''''Dança da Morte''''' (Portuguese), '''''Totentanz''''' (German), '''''Dodendans''''' (Dutch), is a [[Middle Ages|late-medieval]] [[allegory]] on the universality of [[death]]: no matter one's station in life, the Dance of Death unites all. There is also a strong element of estates satire. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead or [[personified Death]] summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the [[Grave (burial)|grave]], typically with a [[pope]], [[emperor]], [[monarch|king]], youngster, and labourer. They were produced to remind people of the fragility of their lives and how vain were the glories of earthly life.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04617a.htm | title=Dance of Death | date=2007.02.20 | work=[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> Its origins are postulated from illustrated sermon texts; the earliest recorded visual scheme was a now lost mural in the cemetery of the Holy Innocents in Paris dating from 1424-25.
 ==Paintings==
 [[File:Thetriumphofdeath.jpg|thumb|300px|left|[[Pieter Brueghel the Elder]], ''[[The Triumph of Death]]'' (c.1562) in the [[Museo del Prado]], [[Madrid]]. Brueghel was strongly influenced by the style of [[Hieronymus Bosch]].]]
-The artistic example is from the [[fresco]]ed cemetery of the [[Church of the Holy Innocents]] in Paris (1424). There are also works by [[Konrad Witz]], in [[Basel]] (1440); [[Bernt Notke]], in [[Lübeck]] (1463); and woodcuts designed by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]] and executed by [[Hans Lützelburger]] (1538).
+The earliest recorded visual example is from the cemetery of the [[Church of the Holy Innocents]] in Paris (1424-25). There were also painted schemes in [[Basel]] (the earliest dating from c.1440); a series of paintings on canvas by [[Bernt Notke]], in [[Lübeck]] (1463); and woodcuts designed in the early 1520s by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]] and executed by [[Hans Lützelburger]] (published 1538).
 [[File:Danse Macabre - Guyot Marchand9 (Abbot and Bailiff).jpg|thumb|''La Danse macabre'' ([[Abbot]] and [[Bailiff]]). Paris, [[Guy Marchant]], 1486.]]
-The deathly [[Crisis of the Late Middle Ages|horrors of the 14th century]]—such as recurring [[famines]]; the [[Hundred Years' War]] in [[France]]; and, most of all, the [[Black Death]]—were culturally assimilated throughout Europe. The omnipresent possibility of sudden and painful death increased the religious desire for [[penitence]], but it also evoked a hysterical desire for amusement while still possible; a last dance as cold comfort. The ''danse macabre'' combines both desires: similar to the popular mediaeval [[mystery plays]], the dance-with-death [[allegory]] was originally a didactic play to remind people of the inevitability of death and to advise them strongly to be prepared at all times for death (see ''[[memento mori]]'' and ''[[Ars moriendi]]'').
+The deathly [[Crisis of the Late Middle Ages|horrors of the 14th century]]—such as recurring [[famines]]; the [[Hundred Years' War]] in [[France]]; and, most of all, the [[Black Death]]—were culturally assimilated throughout Europe. The omnipresent possibility of sudden and painful death increased the religious desire for [[penitence]], but it also evoked a hysterical desire for amusement while still possible; a last dance as cold comfort. The ''danse macabre'' combines both desires: in many ways similar to the mediaeval [[mystery plays]], the dance-with-death [[allegory]] was originally a didactic dialogue poem to remind people of the inevitability of death and to advise them strongly to be prepared at all times for death (see ''[[memento mori]]'' and ''[[Ars moriendi]]'').
 [[File:Bienno smaria4.jpg|250px|thumb|left|[[Danse macabre]] in St Maria in [[Bienno]]]]
-The earliest examples of such plays, which consisted of short dialogues between Death and each of its victims, can be found in the direct aftermath of the Black Death in [[Germany]] (where it was known as the ''Totentanz'', and in [[Spain]] as ''la Danza de la Muerte''). The French term ''danse macabre'' most likely derives from Latin ''Chorea Machabæorum'', literally "dance of the Maccabees."{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} [[2 Maccabees]], a [[deuterocanonical]] book of the [[Bible]] in which the grim [[martyrdom]] of a [[Woman with seven sons|mother and her seven sons]] is described, was a well-known mediaeval subject. It is possible that the Maccabean Martyrs were commemorated in some early French plays or that people just associated the book’s vivid descriptions of the martyrdom with the interaction between Death and its prey. Both the play and the evolving paintings were ostensive penitential sermons that even illiterate people (who were the overwhelming majority) could understand.
+Short verse dialogues between Death and each of its victims, which could have been performed as plays, can be found in the direct aftermath of the Black Death in [[Germany]] (where it was known as the ''Totentanz'', and in [[Spain]] as ''la Danza de la Muerte''). The French term ''danse macabre'' may derive from Latin ''Chorea Machabæorum'', literally "dance of the Maccabees."{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} [[2 Maccabees]], a [[deuterocanonical]] book of the [[Bible]] in which the grim [[martyrdom]] of a [[Woman with seven sons|mother and her seven sons]] is described, was a well-known mediaeval subject. It is possible that the Maccabean Martyrs were commemorated in some early French plays or that people just associated the book’s vivid descriptions of the martyrdom with the interaction between Death and its prey. Both the dialogues and the evolving paintings were ostensive penitential lessons that even illiterate people (who were the overwhelming majority) could understand. However, it would be incorrect to regard the Dance of Death as a religious theme: its didactic message was not just about mortality, but also about society with strong elements of satire.
-Furthermore, church [[frescoes]] dealing with death had a long tradition and were widespread; e.g., the legend of the three men and the three dead: on a ride, three young gentlemen meet the skeletal remains of three of their ancestors who warn them, ''Quod fuimus, estis; quod sumus, vos eritis'' (What we were, you are; what we are, you will be). Numerous if often simple fresco versions of that legend from the 13th century onwards have survived (for instance, in the hospital church of [[Wismar]]). Since they showed pictorial sequences of men and skeletons covered with shrouds, those paintings can be regarded as cultural precursors of the new genre.
+Furthermore, [[frescoes]] and murals dealing with death had a long tradition and were widespread; e.g., the legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead: on a ride or hunt, three young gentlemen meet three cadavers (sometimes described as their ancestors) who warn them, ''Quod fuimus, estis; quod sumus, vos eritis'' (What we were, you are; what we are, you will be). Numerous if often simple mural versions of that legend from the 13th century onwards have survived (for instance, in the hospital church of [[Wismar]] or the residential Longthorpe Tower outside Peterborough). Since they showed pictorial sequences of men and corpses covered with shrouds, those paintings can be regarded as cultural precursors of the new genre.
-A ''danse macabre'' painting normally shows a round dance headed by Death. From the highest ranks of the mediaeval hierarchy (usually [[pope]] and [[emperor]]) descending to its lowest (beggar, peasant, and child), each mortal’s hand is taken by a skeleton or an extremely decayed body. The famous ''Totentanz'' in [[Lübeck]]’s [[Marienkirche, Lübeck|Marienkirche]] (destroyed during the Allied [[Bombing of Lübeck in World War II]]) presented Death as very lively and agile, making the impression that the skeletons were actually dancing, whereas their dancing partners looked clumsy and passive. The apparent class distinction in almost all of these paintings is completely neutralized by Death as the ultimate equalizer, so that a sociocritical element is subtly inherent to the whole genre. The ''Totentanz'' of [[Metzin]], for example, shows how a pope crowned with his tiara is being led into hell by the dancing Death.
+A ''danse macabre'' painting may show a round dance headed by Death or a chain of alternating dead and live dancers. From the highest ranks of the mediaeval hierarchy (usually [[pope]] and [[emperor]]) descending to its lowest (beggar, peasant, and child), each mortal’s hand is taken by a skeleton or an extremely decayed body. The famous ''Totentanz'' in [[Lübeck]]’s [[Marienkirche, Lübeck|Marienkirche]] (destroyed during the Allied [[Bombing of Lübeck in World War II]]) presented the dead dancers as very lively and agile, making the impression that they were actually dancing, whereas their living dancing partners looked clumsy and passive. The apparent class distinction in almost all of these paintings is completely neutralized by Death as the ultimate equalizer, so that a sociocritical element is subtly inherent to the whole genre. The ''Totentanz'' of [[Metzin]], for example, shows how a pope crowned with his tiara is being led into hell by the dancing Death.
 [[File:Totentanz LübeckR.gif|800px|thumb|''Lübecker Totentanz'' by Bernt Notke (around 1463, destroyed in a bombing raid in 1942).]]{{Clear}}
 [[File:Bernt Notke Danse Macabre.jpg|thumb|500px|left|[[Bernt Notke]]: Totentanz in [[St. Nicholas' Church, Tallinn]].]]
-Generally, a short dialogue is attached to each victim, in which Death is summoning him or her to dance and the summoned is moaning about the near-death. In the first printed ''Totentanz'' textbook (Anon.: Vierzeiliger oberdeutscher Totentanz, Heidelberger Blockbuch, approx. 1460), Death addresses, for example, the emperor:
+Usually, a short dialogue is attached to each victim, in which Death is summoning him (or, more rarely, her) to dance and the summoned is moaning about impending death. In the first printed ''Totentanz'' textbook (Anon.: Vierzeiliger oberdeutscher Totentanz, Heidelberger Blockbuch, approx. 1460), Death addresses, for example, the emperor:
 :''Her keyser euch hilft nicht das swert''