{"product_id":"dance-of-death-nobleman-plate","title":"1725 Dance of Death Nobleman Plate","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThis hand-colored copperplate engraving excerpted from\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003e a 1725 reissue of Matthäus Merian’s\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eTodten-Tantz \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003eis one of a series of \u003c\/span\u003ememento mori\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003e reminding viewers that death eventually levels us all—even the Nobleman, despite his bravery, status, and expertise in combat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the center of the sheet titled \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTodt zum Edelmann\u003c\/em\u003e, or \"Death and the Nobleman,\" is a copperplate engraving of a \u003cem\u003eTotentanz\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003e,\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eor “Dance of Death,” scene centered on a nobleman. In it, a gaunt, skeletal figure personifying death jauntily grapples the arm of a nobleman in ornate armor whose sword has fallen to the ground. Death is here characterized not so much as antagonistic as inevitable and even comforting. Granted he's pulling the nobleman away from this life and towards the next, but all the while Death is urging bravery and promising peaceful rest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSurrounding this scene is a hand-drawn architectural border added by a later hand and unique to this piece. It shows two columns carved into helmeted knights and houses letterpress elements of a printer’s housekeeping such as the page number (71), a catchword (\u003cem\u003eTodt\u003c\/em\u003e) pointing to the following page, and dialogue between Death and the nobleman. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA rough translation of the dialogue reads:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e         Death to the Nobleman.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e         \u003c\/strong\u003eNow come along, you noble warrior,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e         \u003c\/strong\u003ehere you must put your valour to work:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e         \u003c\/strong\u003eagainst Death, who spares no one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e         \u003c\/strong\u003eMake your peace, and you shall be repaid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e         The Nobleman\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e         \u003c\/strong\u003eI have frightened many a man,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e         \u003c\/strong\u003eone who was covered in armour:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e         \u003c\/strong\u003enow grim Death fences with me,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e         \u003c\/strong\u003eand brings me into great distress.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eTotentanz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003eThis plate was never meant to be viewed alone; it’s only one entry within the procession of figures that typifies the \u003c\/span\u003eTotentanz\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003e genre. These works are composed of a series of scenes wherein a corpse or skeleton leads archetypes from across social strata towards their common end—death. Starting with a figure of universal power (usually a pope or emperor), each plate moves one rung down the social ladder. The majority of this descent moves towards particularity, showing locale-specific offices within the town of its production. In a final return to universality, though, the series ends with recognizable figures like the peasant, painter, mother and child, and Adam and Eve.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThough the engraved image originated from a mural on a 15\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e-century Dominican cemetery wall in Grossbasel, this plate comes from a 1725 Frankfurt reissue of Matthäus Merian’s \u003c\/span\u003eTodten-Tantz\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style: normal;\"\u003e, first published in 1621 and revised in 1649.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New World Cartographic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43888608247869,"sku":"92523","price":450.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/9705\/files\/92923a.jpg?v=1793037337","url":"https:\/\/nwcartographic.com\/products\/dance-of-death-nobleman-plate","provider":"New World Cartographic","version":"1.0","type":"link"}