The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Dance of Death: The Count

c. 1526

Hans Holbein the Younger

(German, active England and Switzerland, 1497/98–1543)
Germany
woodcut
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1929.164
Catalogue raisonné: Passavant vol.3.366.31
Location: Not on view

Description

Dance of Death is the most celebrated series of woodcuts designed by Holbein. The 41 blocks were cut by Hans Lützelburger in the years immediately before his death in 1526, though the set was not published until 1538. Dance of Death originated as a drama in the middle of the 1300s. Following widespread epidemics such as the black plague, these plays took place in a cemetery or churchyard. Dressed in pale costumes painted to resemble skeletons, actors personified Death and summoned a group of people from all social classes in a dancelike procession. In a period when the life span was short, the purpose of the Dance of Death was to remind the people to prepare for the Last Judgement.
  • "Woodcuts: Dance of Death Series by Hans Holbein the Younger." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art16, no. 8 (October 1929): 141-151. Mentioned: p. 141 www.jstor.org
  • Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; August 17-November 9, 2003. "Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection". No exhbition catalogue.
    Exhibition of Prints by the Little Masters: Prints form the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 23-April 24, 1938).
  • {{cite web|title=Dance of Death: The Count|url=false|author=Hans Holbein the Younger|year=c. 1526|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.164