Design for a scabbard with dance of death. Pen and ink and brush, brown wash, grey-primed paper, 57 × 28. 1 cm (largest dimensions), kunstmuseum basel. All the surviving examples of holbein's designs for scabbards on the theme of the dance of death are copies, perhaps a few from his own workshop but most seemingly not made until the late 16th century. The earliest surviving scabbards made to this design are from the second half of the 16th century. This type of scabbard was for the swiss dagger, which could be worn horizontally at the hip. The motifs would stand out against a dark background of leather or velvet. According to art historian christian müller: "on the early copies of the designs, as in the example presented here, the picture is divided into two by a central rib. The left and right halves of the composition are thus conceived as mirror images. In most cases the depiction is of six people from different social strata, all of whom are facing death: an emperor, a female ruler, a lady of the aristocracy, a standard-bearer, a monk and a child. The figures are arranged antithetically, in pairs or in groups of three" (müller, 314). Date: circa 1523.
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