Information AboutDance Of Death |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT DANSE MACABRE | |
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''La Danse Macabre'', also called ''Dance of death, La Danza Macabra,'' or ''Totentanz'', is a leading a row of dancing figures from all walks of life to the Grave —typically with an Emperor , King , Pope , Monk , youngster, beautiful girl, all in Skeleton -state. They were produced under the impact of the Black Death , reminding people of how fragile their lives were and how vain the glories of Earthly Life were. Its origins are postulated from illustrated sermon texts, the earliest artistic examples are in a cemetery in Paris from 1424. PAINTINGS The earliest artistic example is from the Fresco ed cemetery of the Church Of The Holy Innocents in Paris (1424). There are also works by Konrad Witz in Basel (1440), Bernt Notke in Lübeck (1463) and woodcuts by Hans Holbein The Younger (1538). The deathly horrors of the 14th Century—such as recurring , the dance-with-death Allegory was originally a didactic play to remind people of the inevitability of death and to advise them strongly to be prepared all times for death (see '' Memento Mori ''). The earliest examples of such plays, which consisted of short dialogs between Death and each of its victims, can be found in the direct aftermath of the Black Death in Germany , where it was known as the ''Totentanz'', but also in Spain as ''la Danza de la Muerte''. The French word ''danse macabre'' most likely derives from Latin ''Chorea Machabæorum'', literally "dance of the Maccabees". 2 Maccabees , a Deuterocanonical book of the Bible in which the grim Martyrdom of a mother and her seven sons is described, was a well-known mediaeval subject. It is possible that the Maccabean Martyrs were commemorated in some early French plays or that people just associated the book’s vivid descriptions of the martyrdom with the interaction between Death and its prey. Both, the play and the evolving paintings were ostensive penitential sermons which even the illiterate people (who were in the overwhelming majority) could understand. Furthermore, church ). Since they were showing pictorial sequences of men and skeletons covered with shrouds those paintings can be regarded as cultural precursors of the new genre. A ''dance macabre'' painting normally shows a round dance headed by Death. From the highest ranks of the mediaeval hierarchy (usually for instance shows how a pope crowned with his tiara is being led into hell by the dancing Death. Generally, a short dialog is attached to each victim in which Death is summoning him or her to dance, and the summoned is moaning about the near death. In the first printed ''Totentanz'' textbook (Anon.: Vierzeiliger oberdeutscher Totentanz, Heidelberger Blockbuch, approx. 1460), Death addresses e.g. the emperor: Her keyser euch hilft nicht das swert Czeptir vnd crone sint hy nicht wert Ich habe euch bey der hand genomen Ir must an meynen reyen komen :Emperor, your sword won’t help you out :Ceptre and crown are worthless here :I’ve taken your hand :For you must come to my dance At the bottom end of the ''Totentanz'' Death calls e.g. the peasant to dance and he answers: Ich habe gehabt arbeit gross Der sweis mir du die haut floss Noch wolde ich ger dem tod empfliehen Zo habe ich des glu nit hie :I had to work very much and very hard :The sweat was running down my skin :I’d like to escape death nontheless :But here I won’t have any luck : Totentanz in Tallinn (Nikolaikirche)]] A famous '' The Triumph Of Death '' painting (c.1562) in the Museo Del Prado , Madrid , is by Pieter Brueghel The Elder who was strongly influenced by the style of Hieronymus Bosch . PRINTING The earliest known depiction of a print shop appeared in a printed image of the The Dance Of Death , in 1499, in Lyon, by Mattias Huss . It depicts a Compositor at his station, which is raised to facilitate his work; and a person running the press. To the right of the print shop an early book store is shown. Early print shops were gathering places for the literati of the day. MUSICAL SETTINGS Musical examples include
FILMS A particularly sarcastic ''Danse Macabre'' fashion show appears in Roma by Federico Fellini . The final shots of the film '' The Seventh Seal '' by Ingmar Bergman depict a kind of ''Danse Macabre''. A scene in episode 11 of the '' Inhumanoids '' cartoon features a danse macabre, in which a giant skeleton-monster with fake angel wings, D-Compose , dances with Sandra Shore, a woman transformed in a demonic giantess, while skeleton insects play a sinister music on organic, bone and tissue musical instruments. SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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