Triumph of death

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Jan Brueghel Triumph of Death (1597) - Museum Joanneum, Graz
Triumph of Death (15th century) Palermo

The triumph of death has been a theme in European cultural history since the Middle Ages, especially in the fine arts.

history

The representations tie in with the medieval dances of death , which were initially cultivated by beggar monks as a mystery play or in the form of exchanges. These finally found their expression in poetry and art as a reflection on the temporal. Plague and cholera epidemics have led to drastic representations since the 14th century, especially in murals, which thematize the inevitability and cruelty of the ubiquitous death to which members of all walks of life are helplessly exposed.

An early example of the triumph of death is a wall fresco in Camposanto (Pisa) , which was previously generally attributed to the Pisan painter Francesco Traini (documented 1321–1365), now Buonamico Buffalmacco , and with its drastic realism occupies a unique position in Italian Trecento painting . The 15th century may be represented by the triumph of death from the Palazzo Sclafani in Palermo , which is now in the Palazzo Abatellis , which was possibly known to the Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel from his trip to Italy (around 1552) and as a suggestion for his 1562 / 63 resulting dramatic triumph of death served. Hieronymus Bosch's world of demons flows into his work, as does the woodcut sequences Alphabet of Death and Dance of Death by Hans Holbein , which condense into a cruel event of annihilation, human desolation and hopelessness. In the twentieth century, the paintings by Otto Dix and Felix Nussbaum deserve special mention. Gabriele D'Annunzio and Eugène Ionesco have dealt with this topic in literature .

painting

Literature / theater

  • Gabriele D'Annunzio: Trionfo della morte (1894)
  • Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994): Triumph of Death (1970)

bibliography

  • Francesco Traini . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 33 : Theodotos vacation . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1939, p. 340 .
  • Hans Holbein: Pictures of Death. Inselverlag, Leipzig 1989.
  • Max Seidel, Roger H. Marijektiven: Brueghel. Belser Verlag, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-7630-1643-0 , p. 46.
  • Klaus Ertz: Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) - The paintings. Verlag DuMont, Cologne 1979, ISBN 3-7701-1134-6 , p. 453 ff.
  • Gottfried Biedermann et al .: Bildwerke - Renaissance - Mannerism - Baroque. Paintings and sculptures from the old gallery of the Styrian State Museum Joanneum in Graz, Kurt Woisetschläger on his 70th birthday. Graz 1995, pp. 58-61.
  • Friederike Wille: The allegory of death in Camposanto in Pisa. Genesis and reception of a famous picture, Munich 2002.

Web links

Commons : Triumph of Death  - Collection of images, videos and audio files