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Dance of Death

The Creation

c. 1526
(German, active England and Switzerland, 1497/98–1543)
Germany
woodcut
Sheet: 7.1 x 4.8 cm (2 13/16 x 1 7/8 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1929.144
Catalogue raisonné: Passavant vol.3.365.1
Location: 115 Manuscripts & Textiles
Public Domain
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Description

Hans Holbein’s Dance of Death series, a collection of 41 prints, begins with this scene of the sixth day of Creation, when, according to Genesis, humankind was made. Here, a menagerie of animals crowd around in awe as God stoops to pull Eve from Adam’s side. From above, the moon, sun, and winds witness the birth. Eve is figured in this print as a fully formed, adult woman, though, much like the tree limbs behind her, she branches off from her partner, suggesting her origin from Adam’s rib. The pair is unaware of their nakedness, a sign of humanity’s then sinless state.
Vertically oriented print in black ink of a bearded man wearing a crown and robes lifting a nude woman from under the arms, where she extends from the waist from the side of a reclining nude man. They are surrounded by a forest and animals, running water at the bottom, and above sun, moon, and two flanking faces blowing radiating lines from a cloudy sky. Above, the words: "Die schöpffung aller ding."

The Creation

c. 1526

Hans Holbein the Younger

(German, active England and Switzerland, 1497/98–1543)
Germany

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