the.com/danse macabre
death invites everyone to dance, and for once, nobody gets to sit out.
means a medieval allegorical motif showing death leading people of every rank in a dance toward the grave.
from emerged in 14th-century europe after the black death, when mass mortality made mockery of social hierarchy; painted on cemetery walls and church cloisters, it showed skeletons escorting popes, kings, and peasants alike toward the same ending.
paris originfirst major depiction was cimetiere des innocents, 1424
democratic deathevery rank dances, none escape the line
saint-saens version1874 tone poem turned the theme into a violin waltz
printed spreadholbein's woodcut series made it a bestseller in 1538
for instance
holbein's woodcuts — 1538 series, 41 scenes, death stalks every profession
basel totentanz — painted mural, 1440s, destroyed 1805, fragments survive
kleines walsertal — tirolean church mural still visible, dates to 1520