Free Essay Exampl. The Dance of Death

The Dance of Death refashions the Dance Macabre. It was an allegory that was done artistically in the Middle Ages, which represented Death. Death was the uniting factor in the middle ages and even in the contemporary world. In the Middle Ages, the universality of Death reigned. People have different stations and titles in life, but Death unites them all (Adamson 10). A pope, A king a labourer among others, are all united in Death in the end. All people are equal before Death, and they all have to go through the process. Death was powerful and conquering, even in the Middle Ages.

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The Paintings, Poems and Music

The Dance of Death was represented in poems, paintings and music by different artists. The images of the Dance of Death became more pronounced and complete in the Middle Ages. The pictures showed the living who were alternating with the dead (Pribyl 230). The paintings were mostly used by the church to remind people to repent since Death was imminent. In 1523, Hans Holbein brought more advanced and sophisticated images of the Dance of Death. He helped reach the pictorial evolution of the Dance of Death. The paintings became popular in Western Europe (Classen 623). Music compositions associated with Death in France, Germany and England. The songs talked about the ultimate act of dying. These compositions became very popular in the middle ages. The Black Death and the 100 years’ war across Europe had already ravaged Europe and people were always in fear of Death. Poems on the Dance of Death were first, and then the paintings and music (Gertsman 13).

Universality of Death

Death is universal. It unites everyone in life. Christians in the middle ages believed that God was there to protect them. They were fascinated by the paintings of Mary mother of Jesus and Jesus himself playing. They saw the beauty of life on the early images promoted by Christianity (Sze-Lorrain 117). However, the Dance of Death paintings in the Middle Ages was fast gaining popularity and reminded people that despite the beautiful things here on earth, Death is ultimate. In Death, the rich, the powerful, the poor and labourers were all united. They all had to die at some point (Gonzalez 26). People acted the Dance of Death plays dressed up as corpses and playing as different people from society. Personified, Death represented people from all walks of life. Death is equalizing and all-powerful over man. Everyone, a pope, a king, a child an adult has to die someday, and in Death, they are all united. No class, no age and no power over the other. The living and dead figures were the same in Dance of Death. Those dancing while living had different statuses, but after dying then they all had no class. Death is universal and falls on every man despite his position and rank in life (Hedges 4).

Artistic Diversity and Presentation

The Dance of death paintings was a series. Different artists attempted to represent the Dance of Death in their images to inform the public about Death and how Death falls on everyone. Most of the presentations by artists were used by religion which had reformed to convert them to believers. At first John, the Duke of Bedford included in his work the dead king as an addition to Dance of Death Cemetery Mural in 1424 (Murray 390). The impact of work by John, the duke of Bedford was also political part from creating awareness about the equality of Death. Addition of the king in the mural informed the public even a king has to die (Manderson 15). At the time, kings were all-powerful since they made decisions and reigned over people with ultimate power. The addition of a king in the Dance of Death mural reminded people that even a king would die someday, and he will be united in Death with every other person no matter the class in life. Hans Holbein designed the Dance of Death series on pictorial representations in 1526 in Basel made of wood. The designs attracted public attention because of using the wood (Bardon 22).

Conclusion

The Dance of Death revolutionized the view of Death. People were made aware that Death will happen to everyone despite their class and status in society. Europe experienced the worst years of war and diseases in the Middle Ages. Death was imminent. Religion was also dominating the community, especially the Catholic faith. Society was also highly divided between the rich who were the rulers and the poor who were the labourers. They danced in different classes, but with Death, the Dance was equal for all. They were united. No status for the dead, all people are equal in Death, and they all have to go through the process. Death was powerful and conquering, even in the Middle Ages.

Works Cited

Adamson, Veronica MF. The aesthetic experience of dying: the Dance to Death. Routledge, 2017.

Bardon, Steven A. "Danse Macabre: Origins, Evolution, and Execution." (2018).

Classen, Albrecht. "The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages: Image, Text, Performance (Studies in the Visual Cultures of the Middle Ages, 3)." (2011): 623-625.

Gertsman, Elina. "The dance of death in the middle ages." Image, text, performance, (2010).

Gonzalez Zymla, Herbert. "DANCE OF DEATH." REVISTA DIGITAL DE ICONOGRAFIA MEDIEVAL 6.11 (2014): 23-51.

Hedges, C. "The dance of death." Truth Dig, March 12 & July 30 (2017).

Manderson, Desmond. Danse Macabre: Temporalities of Law in the Visual Arts. Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Murray, Alex. "The Dance of Death: Fitzgerald and Decadence." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 62.3 (2016): 387-411.

Pribyl, Kathleen. "The Dance of Death–A Synthesis." Farming, Famine and Plague. Springer, Cham, 2017. 225-233.

Sze-Lorrain, Fiona. "Macabre Dance." (2018): 117-118.