WOMEN'S DANCE of DEATH ~ GUYOT MARCHANT







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DANCE of DEATH ~ LUEBECK



The Dance of Death mural at St. Mary's Church in Lübeck was destroyed in the aerial bombardment of the city in 1942. Photographs survive which allow the mural to be reconstructed as above. Between 1952 and 1957, Alfred Mahlau created two Dance of Death windows in the restored chapel where the mural used to be.





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DANCE of DEATH ~ BERAM

DANCE of DEATH ~ FREIBURG

In the St. Michael Chapel in Freiburg:

SPIRIT HOUSES of EKLUTNA

My friend Shane took these pictures when he visited Alaska a few years ago. The Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Eklutna, whose congregation is largely Athabascan, is noted for the brightly painted spirit houses in its cemetery.

DANCE of DEATH ~ MATTHAUS MERIAN

Martin Hagstrøm:

One might argue about which was more famous: Death from Lübeck or der Liebe Tod von Basel... The mural in Basel was the longer. With its [66 yards] and 39 dancing couples, it was twice as long as the painting in Lübeck. The painting was from circa 1440, and thus 20-25 years older than the painting in Lübeck.

Death from Basel was in particular made famous through the copperplates that Matthäus Merian created (1616-1649). Merian's copperplates, along with copies made by Chovin, Beck and Felix Schneider were published in countless editions through several centuries and made Basel's Dance of Death famous throughout Europe.

It must be remembered though, that when Merian produced his copperplates, the painting was already 200 years old and had gone through several restorations and changes, especially by Hans Kluber in 1568... In fact, Basel had two Dances of Death. In the nunnery in Kleinbasel was a copy of the Dance of Death from Großbasel. This copy had been better protected against wind, weather, vandalism and renovations, and there we can see how the Dance of Death in Basel must have looked originally before all the changes.

The Kleinbasel Dance of Death was destroyed in the 1860s; the original Großbasel Dance of Death was destroyed in 1805. Matthäus Merian's copperplates are shown below:

DANCE of DEATH ~ NIKLAUS MANUEL







Fragments of the Dance of Death painted in Bern Münster by Niklaus Manuel in the early 16th century, and destoyed in 1660.

DANCE of DEATH ~ EMMETTEN







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GREAT CLOCKS of CHRISTENDOM: DEATH'S HEAD WATCH of MARY, QUEEN of SCOTS



Time Telling Through the Ages:

A small watch in the form of a skull [is] said to have been given by Mary, Queen of Scots to Mary Seaton, one of her maids of honor. The skull is silver gilt and is engraved with figures of Death, Time, Adam and Eve, and the Crucifixion. The works occupy the brain's position in the skull fitting into a silver bell which fills the entire hollow of the skull. The hours are struck on this bell by a small hammer on a separate train.

EVERYMAN