Title
Dance of Death, by Borch (1660, c.) and Mechel (1780)
Description
Original title: Dans van de Dood ("Dance of Death").
This painting by Gestina ter Borch (image 1) was inspired by a lost design of a dagger by Hans Holbein the Younger. Image 2 represents another copy of Holbein's design by unknown (1523, c.). Images 3 and 4 represent a copy of Hans Holbein's Dagger Scabbard design by Mechel (1780)
"On the early copies of the designs, as in the example presented here, the picture is divided into two by a central rib. The left and right halves of the composition are thus conceived as mirror images. In most cases the depiction is of six people from different social strata, all of whom are facing death: an emperor, a female ruler, a lady of the aristocracy, a standard-bearer, a monk and a child. The figures are arranged antithetically, in pairs or in groups of three" (Müller et al., 2006, p. 314). (Description from Müller, C., Kemperdick, S., Ainsworth, M. (2006). Hans Holbein the Younger: The Basel Years, 1515–1532. Munich: Prestel ISBN 9783791335803. Found in Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabbard_with_Dance_of_Death,_after_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg, Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151019184233/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabbard_with_Dance_of_Death,_after_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg)
In image 1, death is represented by three different skeletons, one of which is represented without clothes, another with a cloth over its skull and the last one with a hat playing the flute and drums. As mentioned by Müler, three people from different strata are represented in the image, two of which are male and one female. Death, however, comes to all equally.
In images 3 and 4 we can more clearly see the recurrent model of the dance of death, where some characters seem to have very generic traits (such as hair), while in others they are dressed with traditionally feminine or masculine clothes without having any other gender trait. This turns them into examples of parody, as they dress up with a specific gender identity believed so important by those alive.
This painting by Gestina ter Borch (image 1) was inspired by a lost design of a dagger by Hans Holbein the Younger. Image 2 represents another copy of Holbein's design by unknown (1523, c.). Images 3 and 4 represent a copy of Hans Holbein's Dagger Scabbard design by Mechel (1780)
"On the early copies of the designs, as in the example presented here, the picture is divided into two by a central rib. The left and right halves of the composition are thus conceived as mirror images. In most cases the depiction is of six people from different social strata, all of whom are facing death: an emperor, a female ruler, a lady of the aristocracy, a standard-bearer, a monk and a child. The figures are arranged antithetically, in pairs or in groups of three" (Müller et al., 2006, p. 314). (Description from Müller, C., Kemperdick, S., Ainsworth, M. (2006). Hans Holbein the Younger: The Basel Years, 1515–1532. Munich: Prestel ISBN 9783791335803. Found in Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabbard_with_Dance_of_Death,_after_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg, Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151019184233/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabbard_with_Dance_of_Death,_after_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg)
In image 1, death is represented by three different skeletons, one of which is represented without clothes, another with a cloth over its skull and the last one with a hat playing the flute and drums. As mentioned by Müler, three people from different strata are represented in the image, two of which are male and one female. Death, however, comes to all equally.
In images 3 and 4 we can more clearly see the recurrent model of the dance of death, where some characters seem to have very generic traits (such as hair), while in others they are dressed with traditionally feminine or masculine clothes without having any other gender trait. This turns them into examples of parody, as they dress up with a specific gender identity believed so important by those alive.
Creator
Borch, Gesina ter (1633-1690) (Images 1 and 2)
Mechel, Christian von (1737-1817) (Images 3 and 4)
Mechel, Christian von (1737-1817) (Images 3 and 4)
Source
Image 1: Rijksmuseum, Netherlands.
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BI-1887-1463-23B
http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.476931
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200819000711/https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BI-1887-1463-23B
Object Number: BI-1887-1463-23B
Image 2: Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabbard_with_Dance_of_Death,_after_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151019184233/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabbard_with_Dance_of_Death,_after_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg
Image 3:
Le Triomphe De La Mort (The Triumph of Death) by Holbein, Hans ed. Mechel, Christian von. (1780). Illustration 47.Bildtafel Pl:XII. [Bilder des Todes und Dolchscheide], p. 69. Found in Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Germany. URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-59453
http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/pageview/2380890
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200903224713/http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/pageview/2380890
Also found on the "The Dance of Death" webpage:
http://www.dodedans.com/Exhibit/Image.php?lang=e&navn=mechel-s1
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180420062820/http://www.dodedans.com/Exhibit/Image.php?lang=e&navn=mechel-s1
Image 4:
Le Triomphe De La Mort (The Triumph of Death) by Holbein, Hans ed. Mechel, Christian von. (1780). Illustration 47.Bildtafel Pl:XII. [Bilder des Todes und Dolchscheide], p. 69. Found in Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Germany. URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-59453
http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/pageview/2380890
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200903224713/http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/pageview/2380890
Also found on the "The Dance of Death" webpage:
http://www.dodedans.com/Exhibit/Image.php?lang=e&navn=mechel-s2
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180420062825/http://www.dodedans.com/Exhibit/Image.php?lang=e&navn=mechel-s2
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BI-1887-1463-23B
http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.476931
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200819000711/https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/BI-1887-1463-23B
Object Number: BI-1887-1463-23B
Image 2: Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabbard_with_Dance_of_Death,_after_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151019184233/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scabbard_with_Dance_of_Death,_after_Hans_Holbein_the_Younger.jpg
Image 3:
Le Triomphe De La Mort (The Triumph of Death) by Holbein, Hans ed. Mechel, Christian von. (1780). Illustration 47.Bildtafel Pl:XII. [Bilder des Todes und Dolchscheide], p. 69. Found in Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Germany. URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-59453
http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/pageview/2380890
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200903224713/http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/pageview/2380890
Also found on the "The Dance of Death" webpage:
http://www.dodedans.com/Exhibit/Image.php?lang=e&navn=mechel-s1
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180420062820/http://www.dodedans.com/Exhibit/Image.php?lang=e&navn=mechel-s1
Image 4:
Le Triomphe De La Mort (The Triumph of Death) by Holbein, Hans ed. Mechel, Christian von. (1780). Illustration 47.Bildtafel Pl:XII. [Bilder des Todes und Dolchscheide], p. 69. Found in Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf, Germany. URN: urn:nbn:de:hbz:061:1-59453
http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/pageview/2380890
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200903224713/http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ihd/content/pageview/2380890
Also found on the "The Dance of Death" webpage:
http://www.dodedans.com/Exhibit/Image.php?lang=e&navn=mechel-s2
Archived in:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180420062825/http://www.dodedans.com/Exhibit/Image.php?lang=e&navn=mechel-s2
Date
Image 1: 1660, c.
Image 2: 1780
Image 2: 1780
Format
Image 1:
Paper, watercolor and ink.
Dimensions: 6.8 × 13.2 cm
Image 2:
Unknown
Paper, watercolor and ink.
Dimensions: 6.8 × 13.2 cm
Image 2:
Unknown
Item Relations
This item has no relations.
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