Skip to main content

Auch ein Todtentanz [Yet another Dance of Death]: P.14784-R.f4r

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Auch ein Todtentanz [Yet another Dance of Death]

Maker(s)

Printmaker: Unknown
Publisher: Schlicke, Bernhard; Elischer, Balthasar
Draughtsman: Rethel, Alfred (After)

Entities

Categories

Description

Erstes Blatt' [Plate One], printed at upper centre. Wood-engraving with a very pale yellow tint. An allegorical scene in which Death, represented as a human skeleton, can be seen climbing out of an open grave on the left, a cross broken and discarded in the foreground. He is assisted by representations of five Vices. The central female figure with a snake around her neck is Cunning, who hands Death a sword stolen from Justice, who sits bound and blindfolded in the background to the right. Vanity holds a mirror up to Death and wears a skirt decorated with the eyes of the peacock feather. She places a hat with a cockerel feather upon the head of Death, which has been identified as referencing the hat worn by Friedrich Hecker, the leader of the Baden uprising of April 1848 (See Boime, 1991, p. 578, n.5). Falsehood wears a mask and cloak on the far right and points to the captive Justice whose scales she holds in her left hand. Bloodthirstiness, a hooded figure holding a scythe in the background on the left stands beside Madness, whose horse champs and tosses its head in a frenzied manner. The horse accompanies Death throughout the series and Madness holds the riding boots with spurs (another reference to Hecker) which are worn by Death in all but the final scene. Four verses composed by poet Robert Reinick arranged below the image begin with a reference to the slogan of the French Republic, which had its origins in the Revolution of 1789: 'Freiheit, Gleichheit und Brudersinn!' [Liberty, Equality and Fraternity!].

Legal notes

Given by Mr Philip J. Worsley, 1914-13

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1914-12) by Worsley, Philip J.

Dating

19th Century
Production date: AD 1879

Note

Height 300mm x width 412mm

School or Style

German

Techniques used in production

Wood engraving

Identification numbers

Accession number: P.14784-R.f4r
Primary reference Number: 225374
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Wednesday 5 September 2018 Updated: Thursday 6 January 2022 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Auch ein Todtentanz [Yet another Dance of Death]" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/225374 Accessed: 2024-11-02 16:39:01

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/225374 |title=Auch ein Todtentanz [Yet another Dance of Death] |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-02 16:39:01|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-225374

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...