Early nineteenth-century broadside

The Dance of Death: or A Representation of Death in the Act of Leading All Ranks and Conditions of Men to the Grave.
London, ca. 1825.
(BRB0913)

This early nineteenth-century popular broadside printed in London features several elements discussed throughout this exhibition. It includes both the Dance of Death as a procession of many figures in a single image as well as a series of individual scenes showing Death coupled with specifically identified figures. The series shows the influence of Hans Holbein, most strikingly with the inclusion of scenes that appear to have originated in Holbein’s sequence from 1538. These include the Expulsion, Adam tilling the soil, and the shipwreck. As seen in other works dating from later periods, the series also shows the revision of figures to reflect contemporary society and dress. 

BRB0913_1000.jpg
The Dance of Death after Holbein
Early nineteenth-century broadside