The Danse Macabre

What it is

This painting is a fragment of a Danse Macabre by Bernt Notke, created at the end of the fifteenth century and now displayed in St. Nicholas Church, Tallinn. It reproduces an earlier work by Notke in Lübeck and shows skeletal figures of Death dancing with people from every social rank, accompanied by verses in Low German.

Why it matters

The Dance of Death theme spread widely in art and literature of the late Middle Ages as a memento mori, reminding viewers that death comes for everyone regardless of status. This visual tradition grew directly out of the repeated mortality caused by the Black Death and later outbreaks, showing how communities processed mass death through shared images.

Look closer

• Why does Death dance with people of every rank, from pope to peasant?
• What might the verses accompanying the figures have told viewers who could read Low German?
• What does the painting's survival through war and restoration tell you about how fragile historical evidence can be?