Dance of Death by Wondreb
The Wondreb Dance of Death is a series of paintings on the ceiling of the cemetery chapel in the village of Wondreb in the Tirschenreuth district in the Upper Palatinate .
time
In the Thirty Years' War a great depression spread. Much had been destroyed that had been built with great effort. This attitude also found its way into the Baroque era from 1600 to 1750. Topics were Vanitas (transience), Memento Mori (commemorate death) and Carpe Diem (live the day). The antitheses were also very popular. Two opposing terms were juxtaposed, for example life and death, appearance and being. The ceiling painting in the cemetery chapel in Wondreb was also created at this time. It was painted on the damp ceiling where it is heavily stressed. As a result, many restorations were necessary to maintain it.
Emergence
The exact time of origin is unclear. At first it was assumed that the picture with the chapel was taken in 1669. The reason was assumed to be an impending plague, which the dances of death were supposed to keep away. A little later it was believed that it was an imitation of a similar picture in Vienna. But this was only created around 1710. In the baroque era one should be reminded of death again and again and prepare for the Last Judgment . The artist is also unknown; it is believed that it was painted by a lay brother from the nearby Waldsassen Monastery, Frater Cornelius von Bosche. He died around 1721. If this authorship applies, the creation of the picture can be narrowed down for the period from 1710 to 1721.
content
Wondreb's dance of death consists of 28 individual pictures of the same format, arranged in 7 rows with 4 panels each. They show 8 skulls and 20 death dances. All pictures are painted using the grisaille technique, which was not common during the Baroque period. All pictures are structured in the same way: the Bible text above the picture, the picture itself and finally a free translation of the Bible text in German.
Coordinates: 49 ° 54 '33.9 " N , 12 ° 23' 4.1" E