The famous designs by Hans Holbein the…
1538 CE
The famous designs by Hans Holbein the Younger for his Dance of Death series, which magnificently illustrates the themes of the mid-fourteenth century European reaction to the devastating Black Death, are drawn in 1526 while he is in Basel.
They are cut in wood by the accomplished Formschneider (block cutter) Hans Lützelburger.
These woodcuts soon appear in proofs with titles in German.
The first book edition, containing forty-one woodcuts, is published at Lyons by the Treschsel brothers in 1538.
The popularity of the work and the currency of its message are underscored by the fact that there will be eleven editions before 1562 and over the sixteenth century perhaps as many as a hundred unauthorized editions and imitations.
Ten further designs will be added in later editions.