The Dance Of Death

By Hans Lutzelburger, Hans Holbein, Hans Ltzelburger, et al.

Book Overview

""The Dance of Death"" is a book that features the famous woodcuts by Hans Holbein, depicting the dance of death or the Danse Macabre. This macabre dance is a medieval allegory that depicts death as a skeleton leading people from all walks of life to their final destination. The book contains a series of woodcuts that show death interacting with people from different social classes, including kings, popes, merchants, and peasants. The illustrations are accompanied by verses in German, Latin, and French that describe the scene and the message behind it. The book is a powerful reminder of the transience of life and the inevitability of death. It is a classic work of art that has inspired countless artists and writers throughout the centuries.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1163410381
• ISBN13: 9781163410387
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

affordable presentation of hard-to-find wood carvings

Again, the thrifty publisher Dover supplies us with an affordable classic, this time in the art of woodcuts. Hans Holbein's macabre and morbid series, "The Dance of Death," gives us a chilling view into Europe during the time when its denizens, well, weren't really expected to make it too far into life. This Dover edition, though not as thorough as the complete 1538 French series (now out of print), provides a faithful reproduction of Holbein's masterpiece, with the original textual accompaniment in Latin (with English). In these marvelous woodcuts, the viewer can easily sense the feeling of dread within the European community during a time that death came all too easily. Of course, death is a theme from which we can never truly escape, so I suppose Holbein's art speaks to all the ages. Until we ourselves come to meet the Eternal Footman, we have Holbein's "Dance of Death" to give us a glimpse into what we may expect.

excellent presentation of Holbein's Danse Macabre works

The woodcuts are beautifully reproduced. Included are the verses that originally accompanied each woodcut. The text is provided both in the original Latin and in modern translation. The Danse Macabre was originally a visual artistic presentation, and this book is faithful to that performance. The explanatory text before the woodcuts begin is short and to the point. Dover allows the art to speak for itself, rather than 'interpreting' it for the viewer.