Dance of Death: The Miser

1526

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Dance of Death: The Miser is a 1526 by Hans Holbein the Younger, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Hans Holbein the Younger
When & what style?: 1526 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This woodcut shows a bony skeleton leading a rich man by the hand. The miser clutches a bag of coins while Death grins. A scroll in the skeleton’s other hand reads: “I am come to fetch thee.” The Dance of Death series started after the Black Death. It shows Death taking everyone—rich or poor. Holbein’s skeletons feel alive, not scary. Look up Hans Holbein the Younger (German, active England and Switzerland, 1497/98–1543) for more.

The story of this work

Overview

Dance of Death is the most celebrated series of woodcuts designed by Holbein. The forty-one blocks were cut by Hans Lützelburger in the years immediately before his death in 1526, though the set was not published until 1538. Dance of Death originated as a drama in the middle of the 14th century. Following widespread epidemics such as the black plague, these plays took place in a cemetery or churchyard. Actors, dressed in pale costumes painted to resemble skeletons, personified Death and summoned a group of people from all social classes in a dancelike procession. In a period when the life…

Read the full account in the museum source.