Dance of Death

This whimsical engraving is from Matthaeus Merian & Jacques-Anthony Chauvin’s La danse des morts comme elle est dépeinte dans la louable et célèbre ville de Basle, pour servir de miroir de la nature humaine. The work was published in 1789 in Basel by Chez Jean Rod. Im-Hof & Fils. This is a French-German edition of the famous Dance of Death

Merian published the most complete and reliable represenation of the Dance of Death, the famous Basel wall paintings. He first drew the Dance of Death in 1616 just after Emanuel Bock restored the mural. He constructed his engraving from this initial sketch.

Matthaeus Merian (1593-1650) was part of an exceptional artistic family. He was an artist and engraver himself that was born in Switzerland, and received training in engraving in Zurich, Nancy, Paris, and Strasbourg. He settled in Frankfurt where he worked for Johann Theodor de Bry, another accomplished publisher, and married his daughter, Maria Magdelena de Bry. He was the father of Matthaeus the Younger and the celebrated naturalist and artist, Maria Sibylla Merian. He took over De Bry’s published house upon his death in 1623, and became particularly noted for his town views due to their artistry and accuracy.