Dance of Death
- LAST REVIEWED: 11 January 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 11 January 2017
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0020
- LAST REVIEWED: 11 January 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 11 January 2017
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195396584-0020
Introduction
The Dance of Death (or Danse Macabre) is an allegorical confrontation of the living with death. It is both a literary and a visual theme that aims to remind readers and viewers of their own mortality by presenting a range of social representatives who are summoned to die. Its origins are still a matter for debate, but the theme most likely developed in the 14th century and combines morality with estates satire. The earliest extant version appears to be the Spanish Dança general de la Muerte dialogue poem of c. 1390–1400, yet there must have been earlier prototypes, as there is already mention of “de Macabré la dance” in Jean le Fèvre’s 1376 poem Le respit de la mort. The earliest recorded visual example is a (lost) wall painting of 1424–1425 in Paris, which became the catalyst for the spread of the theme across Europe; it incorporated the French dialogue poem with a painted chain of dead and living dancers. John Lydgate adapted the French poem for his Middle English Dance of Death c. 1426, which formed the basis for a (lost) painted cycle of c. 1430 at Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The German Totentanz tradition may have been a parallel development: visual examples include the (lost) painted cycles in Basel (c. 1440) and Lübeck (1463). The series of woodcuts designed by Hans Holbein the Younger in the early 1520s (published in 1538) signals a new Renaissance approach to the theme.
General Overviews
Clark 1950 is still the main monograph in English to offer a general overview of the Dance of Death across Europe; it is concise and ambitious in its scope but somewhat dated in view of the wealth of new literature and new ideas published especially in continental Europe. Gertsman 2010 is a more recent monograph in English, but not so much an overview as its particular focus is on performance, viewer experience, and semiotics; it has illustrations throughout; and transcriptions of a number of key texts, albeit without translations. Corvisier 1998 is a slim, readable overview of the history of the Dance and its precursors in French. Cosacchi 1965 focuses very much on the German tradition, origins, and dissemination of the Dance of Death. Oosterwijk 2004 provides an updated English survey of the Dance of Death across Europe with extensive references, while Oosterwijk 2009 is a continuation of this research. Rosenfeld 1968 is still widely cited, but the author’s hypothesis about the German origins of the Dance is no longer tenable (see also Theories). The essays in Tenenti 2002 are much broader in covering different aspects of macabre art over a longer period and are somewhat variable in quality, but they include a wealth of illustrations. Utzinger and Utzinger 1996 is an illustrated guide of extant Dance of Death examples and other things macabre across Europe. While the focus of Hammerstein 1980 is on music and dance, it has an extremely useful catalogue of examples with a wealth of illustrations.
Clark, James C. The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Glasgow: Jackson, 1950.
Still a useful introduction to the subject with a survey of the occurrence of the Dance across Europe, albeit outdated in some of its earlier assumptions about dates and examples; includes some illustrations.
Corvisier, André. Les Danses Macabres. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1998.
A slim but useful study on the subject and its wider context with some illustrations, statistics, and two maps.
Cosacchi, Stephan. Makabertanz: Der Totentanz in Kunst, Poesie und Brauchtum des Mittelalters. Meisenheim am Glan, Germany: Verlag Anton Hain, 1965.
An ambitious if somewhat uneven study of the Dance of Death, its origins, and its precursors, with a special focus on the German tradition. Some black-and-white illustrations, but the lack of an index is a serious drawback.
Gertsman, Elina. The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages: Image, Text, Performance. Studies in the Visual Cultures of the Middle Ages 3. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2010.
A richly illustrated study that offers theoretical insights into the medieval Dance of Death tradition across Europe, especially from a performance and semiotics point of view, with a substantial appendix, including four edited key texts (without translations or notes).
Hammerstein, Reinhold. Tanz und Musik des Todes: Die mittelalterlichen Totentänze und ihr Nachleben. Bern, Switzerland: Francke Verlag, 1980.
The catalogue in the second part of this monograph offers a valuable survey of medieval and early modern examples of the Dance of Death across Europe with copious illustrations and a useful bibliography, but no index.
Oosterwijk, Sophie. “Of Corpses, Constables, and Kings: The Danse Macabre in Late-Medieval and Renaissance Culture.” Journal of the British Archaeological Association 157.1 (2004): 169–190.
A concise introduction to the medieval Dance of Death, its origins, and its spread across Europe, with illustrations and extensive notes. Also available online as a chapter in Oosterwijk 2009.
Oosterwijk, Sophie. “‘Fro Paris to Inglond’? The Danse Macabre in Text and Image in Late-Medieval England.” PhD thesis, Leiden University, 2009.
Doctoral thesis based in part on articles previously published; offers a wider discussion of the adaptation and dissemination of the Dance of Death motif in England. Available online
Rosenfeld, Hellmut. Der mittelalterliche Totentanz: Entstehung–Entwicklung–Bedeutung. Rev. ed. Cologne: Böhlau, 1968.
Inevitably somewhat dated but still a useful study, albeit with a questionable German bias (see also Theories); some black and white illustrations. First published in 1954.
Tenenti, Alberto, ed. Humana Fragilitas: The Themes of Death in Europe from the 13th to the 18th Century. Clusone, Italy: Ferrari Editrice, 2002.
Lavishly illustrated volume containing seven essays that offer an overview of death-related art across Europe. Somewhat variable in quality but very wide-ranging in its discussion of macabre culture.
Utzinger, Bertrand, and Hélène Utzinger. Itinéraires des Danses Macabres. Chartres, France: Garnier, 1996.
As the title suggests, rather like a gazetteer but without a map or index. Still useful in drawing attention to lesser known examples in unexpected places.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Aelred of Rievaulx
- Alcuin of York
- Alexander the Great
- Alfonso X
- Alfred the Great
- Alighieri, Dante
- Alliterative Verse in Middle English
- Ancrene Wisse
- Angevin Dynasty
- Anglo-Norman Realm
- Anglo-Saxon Art
- Anglo-Saxon Law
- Anglo-Saxon Manuscript Illumination
- Anglo-Saxon Metalwork
- Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture
- Apocalypticism, Millennialism, and Messianism
- Archaeology of Southampton
- Armenian Art
- Art and Pilgrimage
- Art in Italy
- Art in the Visigothic Period
- Art of East Anglia
- Art of London and South-East England, Post-Conquest to Mon...
- Arthurian Romance
- Attila And The Huns
- Auchinleck Manuscript, The
- Audelay, John
- Augustodunensis, Honorius
- Bartholomaeus Anglicus
- Benedictines After 1100
- Benoît de Sainte Maure [113]
- Beowulf
- Bernard of Clairvaux
- Bernardus Silvestris
- Biblical Apocrypha
- Birgitta of Sweden and the Birgittine Order
- Boccaccio, Giovanni
- Boethius
- Bokenham, Osbern
- Book of Durrow
- Book of Kells
- Bozon, Nicholas
- Byzantine Art
- Byzantine Empire, Eunuchs in the
- Byzantine Empire, Rural Landscapes, Rural Communities, and...
- Byzantine Empire, Women in the
- Byzantine Manuscript Illumination
- Byzantine Monasticism
- Byzantine Science
- Calendars and Time (Christian)
- Cambridge Songs
- Canon Law
- Capgrave, John
- Carolingian Architecture
- Carolingian Era
- Carolingian Manuscript Illumination
- Carolingian Metalwork
- Carthusians and Eremitic Orders
- Cecco d’Ascoli (Francesco Stabili)
- Charlemagne
- Charles d’Orléans
- Charters of the British Isles
- Chaucer, Geoffrey
- Childhood
- Christian Mysticism
- Christianity and the Church in Post-Conquest England
- Christianity and the Church in Pre-Conquest England
- Christina of Markyate
- Chronicles (East Norse, Rhymed Chronicles)
- Chronicles of England and the British Isles
- Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The
- Cistercian Architecture
- Cistercians, The
- Clanvowe, John
- Classics in the Middle Ages
- Cloud of Unknowing and Related Texts, The
- Coins
- Constantinople and Byzantine Cities
- Contemporary Sagas (Bishops’ sagas and Sturlunga saga)
- Coptic Art
- Corpus Christi
- Councils and Synods of the Medieval Church
- Crusades, The
- Crusading Warfare
- Cynewulf
- da Barberino, Francesco
- da Lentini, Giacomo
- da Tempo, Antonio and da Sommacampagna, Gidino
- da Todi, Iacopone
- Dance
- Dance of Death
- d’Arezzo, Ristoro
- de la Sale, Antoine
- de’ Rossi, Nicolò
- de Santa Maria, Cantigas
- Death and Dying in England
- Decorative Arts
- delle Vigne, Pier
- Drama in Britain
- Dress
- Dutch Theater and Drama
- Early Italian Humanists
- Economic History
- Eddic Poetry
- El Cid
- England, Pre-Conquest
- England, Towns and Cities Medieval
- English Prosody
- Exeter Book, The
- Falconry
- Family Letters in 15th Century England
- Family Life in the Middle Ages
- Feast of Fools
- Female Monasticism to 1100
- Feudalism
- Findern Manuscript (CUL Ff.i.6), The
- Florence
- Folk Custom and Entertainment
- Food, Drink, and Diet
- Fornaldarsögur
- France
- French Drama
- French Monarchy, The
- French of England, The
- Friars
- Froissart, Jean
- Games and Recreations
- Gawain Poet, The
- German Drama
- Gerson, Jean
- Glass, Stained
- Gothic Art
- Gower, John
- Gregory VII
- Guilds
- Hagiography in the Byzantine Empire
- Handbooks for Confessors
- Hardyng, John
- Harley 2253 Manuscript, The
- Hiberno-Latin Literature
- High Crosses
- Hilton, Walter
- Historical Literature (Íslendingabók, Landnámabók)
- Hoccleve, Thomas
- Hood, Robin
- Hospitals in the Middle Ages
- Hundred Years War
- Hungary
- Hungary, Latin Literacy in Medieval
- Hungary, Libraries in Medieval
- Hymns
- Icons
- Illuminated Manuscripts
- Illustrated Beatus Manuscripts
- Insular Art
- Insular Manuscript Illumination
- Islamic Architecture (622–1500)
- Italian Cantari
- Italian Chronicles
- Italian Drama
- Italian Mural Decoration
- Italian Novella, The
- Italian Religious Writers of the Trecento
- Italian Rhetoricians
- Jewish Manuscript Illumination
- Jews and Judaism in Medieval Europe
- Julian of Norwich
- Junius Manuscript, The
- King Arthur
- Kings and Monarchy, 1066-1485, English
- Kings’ Sagas
- Knapwell, Richard
- Kraków
- Lancelot-Grail Cycle
- Late Medieval Preaching
- Latin and Vernacular Song in Medieval Italy
- Latin Arts of Poetry and Prose, Medieval
- Latino, Brunetto
- Learned and Scientific Literature
- Ælfric
- Libraries in England and Wales
- Lindisfarne Gospels
- Liturgical Drama
- Liturgical Processions
- Liturgy
- Lollards and John Wyclif, The
- Lombards in Italy
- London, Medieval
- Love, Nicholas
- Low Countries
- Lydgate, John
- Machaut, Guillaume de
- Magic in the Medieval Theater
- Maidstone, Richard
- Malmesbury, Aldhelm of
- Malory, Sir Thomas
- Manuscript Illumination, Ottonian
- Marie de France
- Markets and Fairs
- Masculinity and Male Sexuality in the Middle Ages
- Medicine
- Medieval Archaeology in Britain, Fifth to Eleventh Centuri...
- Medieval Archaeology in Britain, Twelfth to Fifteenth Cent...
- Medieval Bologna
- Medieval Chant for the Mass Ordinary
- Medieval English Universities
- Medieval Ivories
- Medieval Latin Commentaries on Classical Myth
- Medieval Music Theory
- Medieval Naples
- Medieval Optics
- Melusine
- Mendicant Orders and Late Medieval Art Patronage in Italy
- Middle English Language
- Middle English Lyric
- Mirk, John
- Mosaics in Italy
- Mozarabic Art
- Music and Liturgy for the Cult of Saints
- Music in Medieval Towns and Cities
- Music of the Troubadours and Trouvères
- Musical Instruments
- Necromancy, Theurgy, and Intermediary Beings
- Nibelungenlied, The
- Nicholas of Cusa
- Nordic Laws
- Norman (and Anglo-Norman) Manuscript Ilumination
- N-Town Plays
- Nuns and Abbesses
- Old English Hexateuch, The Illustrated
- Old English Language
- Old English Literature and Critical Theory
- Old English Religious Poetry
- Old Norse-Icelandic Sagas
- Ottonian Art
- Ovid in the Middle Ages
- Ovide moralisé, The
- Owl and the Nightingale, The
- Papacy, The Medieval
- Paris
- Peasants
- Persianate Dynastic Period/Later Caliphate (c. 800–1000)
- Peter Abelard
- Petrarch
- Philosophy in the Eastern Roman Empire
- Pictish Art
- Pizan, Christine de
- Plowman, Piers
- Poland
- Poland, Ethnic and Religious Groups in Medieval
- Pope Innocent III
- Post-Conquest England
- Pre-Carolingian Western European Kingdoms
- Prick of Conscience, The
- Pucci, Antonio
- Pythagoreanism in the Middle Ages
- Queens
- Rate Manuscript (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 61)
- Regions of Medieval France
- Regular Canons
- Religious Instruction (Homilies, Sermons, etc.)
- Religious Lyrics
- Rímur
- Robert Mannyng of Brunne
- Rolle, Richard
- Roman Law
- Romances (East and West Norse)
- Romanesque Art
- Rus in Medieval Europe
- Ruthwell Cross
- Sagas and Tales of Icelanders
- Saint Plays and Miracles
- Saint-Denis
- Saints’ Lives
- Scandinavian Migration-Period Gold Bracteates
- Schools in Medieval Britain
- Scogan, Henry
- Seals
- Sermons
- Sex and Sexuality
- Ships and Seafaring
- Shirley, John
- Skaldic Poetry
- Slavery in Medieval Europe
- Snorra Edda
- Song of Roland, The
- Songs, Medieval
- Spain
- St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
- St. Peter's in the Vatican (Rome)
- Syria and Palestine in the Byzantine Empire
- Textiles
- The Middle Ages, The Trojan War in
- The Notre Dame School and the Music of the Magnus liber or...
- The Use of Sarum and Other Liturgical Uses in Later Mediev...
- Theater and Performance, Iberian
- Thirteenth-Century Motets in France
- Thomas Aquinas
- Thomism
- Thornton, Robert
- Tomb Sculpture
- Travel and Travelers
- Trevisa, John
- Tropes
- Troubadours and Trouvères
- Troyes, Chrétien de
- Umayyad History
- Usk, Adam
- Usk, Thomas
- Venerable Bede, The
- Vercelli Book, The
- Vernon Manuscript, The
- Vikings
- Von Eschenbach, Wolfram
- Wace
- Wall Painting in Europe
- Wearmouth-Jarrow
- Welsh Literature
- William of Ockham
- Witchcraft
- Women's Life Cycles
- Wulfstan
- York Corpus Christi Plays
- York, Medieval