The dance of death

Ex Libris: the printed image and the art of the book, 2010

Written by the German physician, Hartmann Schedel, The Nuremberg Chronicle was the first encyclopaedia produced in Europe. Divided into seven ‘ages’, the book assumed the framework of the Bible in that it mirrored the seven days of creation as portrayed in the Biblical book of Genesis. Despite these Biblical underpinnings, the Chronicle reflected the wider, Humanist values of its author, tempering supernaturalism with rational thought. Schedel’s version of creation, for example, comprised both religious belief and scientific thought.

Containing over 1800 woodblock illustrations from the studio of Michel Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, the creation of the book presented new copyright issues which were emerging in the publishing industry: afraid the book’s illustrations might be stolen or copied, it was stipulated in contracts between publisher and illustrator that woodblocks should be locked up when not in use and that misprinted items should be destroyed.

Owing to the number of artisans working in Wolgemut’s workshop, the quality of the Chronicle’s illustrations is variable; however, The Dance of Death is generally attributed to Wolgemut himself. Dances of death were theatrical plays performed in Europe throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, their purpose—to teach that all people must die and should therefore prepare themselves to appear before God.

Elspeth Pitt, Assistant Curator, Prints, Drawings & Photographs