Dance of Death woodcuts

E242599

allegorical artwork print series woodcut series

The Dance of Death woodcuts are a renowned series of early 16th-century allegorical prints by Hans Holbein the Younger that depict Death confronting people from all walks of life, illustrating the universality of mortality.

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All labels observed (10)

Label	Occurrences
Holbein’s Dance of Death woodcut series	2
Dance of Death (Holbein woodcuts)	1
Dance of Death (Lyon, 1538)	1
Dance of Death fresco	1
Dance of Death iconography	1
Dance of Death paintings	1
Dance of Death woodcuts canonical	1
Danse Macabre (medieval allegory of the Dance of Death)	1
The Abbess (Dance of Death plate)	1
The Noblewoman (other Dance of Death plates)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2192923 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Dance of Death woodcuts
Context triple: [Hans Holbein the Younger, notableWork, Dance of Death woodcuts]

A. Apocalypse woodcuts
Apocalypse woodcuts is a celebrated series of late 15th-century woodcut prints by Albrecht Dürer depicting dramatic scenes from the biblical Book of Revelation.
B. Isenheim Altarpiece
The Isenheim Altarpiece is a renowned early 16th-century polyptych by Matthias Grünewald, celebrated for its intense, emotionally charged depictions of the Crucifixion and scenes of suffering and redemption.
C. Dresden Triptych
The Dresden Triptych is a small, richly detailed early Netherlandish altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, celebrated for its intricate realism and devotional imagery.
D. Il trionfo della morte
Il trionfo della morte is a 1894 decadent novel by Italian writer Gabriele D’Annunzio that explores themes of erotic obsession, nihilism, and the allure of death.
E. The Garden of Earthly Delights
The Garden of Earthly Delights is a famous and enigmatic triptych painting by Hieronymus Bosch, renowned for its fantastical, densely detailed scenes depicting paradise, earthly pleasures, and hell.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Dance of Death woodcuts
Target entity description: The Dance of Death woodcuts are a renowned series of early 16th-century allegorical prints by Hans Holbein the Younger that depict Death confronting people from all walks of life, illustrating the universality of mortality.

A. Apocalypse woodcuts
Apocalypse woodcuts is a celebrated series of late 15th-century woodcut prints by Albrecht Dürer depicting dramatic scenes from the biblical Book of Revelation.
B. Isenheim Altarpiece
The Isenheim Altarpiece is a renowned early 16th-century polyptych by Matthias Grünewald, celebrated for its intense, emotionally charged depictions of the Crucifixion and scenes of suffering and redemption.
C. Dresden Triptych
The Dresden Triptych is a small, richly detailed early Netherlandish altarpiece by Jan van Eyck, celebrated for its intricate realism and devotional imagery.
D. Il trionfo della morte
Il trionfo della morte is a 1894 decadent novel by Italian writer Gabriele D’Annunzio that explores themes of erotic obsession, nihilism, and the allure of death.
E. The Garden of Earthly Delights
The Garden of Earthly Delights is a famous and enigmatic triptych painting by Hieronymus Bosch, renowned for its fantastical, densely detailed scenes depicting paradise, earthly pleasures, and hell.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (60)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	allegorical artwork ⓘ print series ⓘ woodcut series ⓘ
artist	Hans Holbein the Younger ⓘ
artMovement	Northern Renaissance ⓘ
circulation	widely reproduced in printed books ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Switzerland ⓘ
creator	Hans Holbein the Younger ⓘ
culturalContext	Reformation-era Europe ⓘ linked to: Reformation
depicts	Death ⓘ children ⓘ clergy ⓘ merchants ⓘ nobility ⓘ peasants ⓘ people from all social classes ⓘ religious figures ⓘ rulers ⓘ secular figures ⓘ women ⓘ
genre	Danse Macabre ⓘ memento mori art ⓘ
hasPart	The Abbess (plate) ⓘ The Child (plate) ⓘ The Cook (plate) ⓘ The Duchess (plate) ⓘ The Emperor (plate) ⓘ The Judge (plate) ⓘ The Knight (plate) ⓘ The Lawyer (plate) ⓘ The Merchant (plate) ⓘ The Nobleman (plate) ⓘ The Nun (plate) ⓘ The Old Woman (plate) ⓘ The Physician (plate) ⓘ The Plague Victim (plate) ⓘ The Ploughman (plate) ⓘ The Pope (plate) ⓘ The Queen (plate) ⓘ The Soldier (plate) ⓘ
historicalSignificance	influential model for later Dance of Death imagery ⓘ landmark of Renaissance printmaking ⓘ
inception	1520s ⓘ early 16th century ⓘ
influencedBy	late medieval morality imagery ⓘ medieval Danse Macabre tradition ⓘ
languageOfInscriptions	German ⓘ Latin ⓘ
mainTheme	mortality ⓘ social equality in death ⓘ universality of death ⓘ
medium	ink on paper ⓘ
narrativeForm	series of individual scenes ⓘ
notableFor	complex iconography of death ⓘ detailed background settings ⓘ satirical treatment of powerful figures ⓘ
placeOfCreation	Basel ⓘ linked to: Basel-Stadt
purpose	moral instruction ⓘ religious reflection on death ⓘ
technique	woodcut ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Hans Holbein the Younger → notableWork → Dance of Death woodcuts ⓘ

Marienkirche (Berlin) → hasArtwork → Dance of Death fresco ⓘ

subject linked to: Marienkirche