THE DANCE OF DEATH
Reading edition
In Painting and in Print, by T. Tindall Wildridge. With Woodcuts.
“The origin of the Dance has been conjectured to have been one of the religious mysteries, moralities, or dramatic exhibitions which at the same time supplied a comedy and a homily. There certainly was an acted processional dance in which the players one by one were snatched away; Cervantes in ‘Don Quixote’ mentions it as the ‘Cortes of Death.’ ... The earliest painting of the Dance of Death is said to be that at Basil, though it is probable that many of which we have information are as old. The German and Swiss bridges, so often, too, the site of religious buildings, were decorated with the representation; an example is upon the Pont des Moulins leading into Lucerne, where is a fine Dance, restored within the last few years.” The blocks illustrating this work are a series found in a northern printing office many years ago. They seem to be of considerable age, and are somewhat close copies of Holbein’s designs.
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