Danse Macabre

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

This is a "Danse Macabre"(trans. "The Dance of Death") etching. Google it folks.

It's a late medieval allegory on the universality and inevitability of death. No matter one's station in life, the dance of death united all. It's thought to have originated in Germany in the form of plays, which spilled over into the art - hence the etchings, there are also of course paintings.

This particular image is "Death and the Maiden" and the point of me having it up is this:

I'm attracted to the truth and finality of the imagery. Usually in these representations, the "victims" of death were depicted as skeletal and resistant. Here, the artist is delivering a bigger message in our own shallow language. She is what most consider the ultimate of life -"young", beautiful, healthy and happy. and he has mated death with this ideal, and she responds as she should - she remains unchanged (consider this against it being said that in youth we hold all the answers to life).

I like the double entendre, you can't tell if she's resisting or inviting with her hand on his. If you really look at the lines and her body language, she's coy.. is she leaning away or into death? I like to think she's inviting him, not because she does not value her life, but precisely because she does. You have no option to decline death, when he visits you, you neither have to "submit" or "fight". You accept that it's a part of life, and you value it like you value all your other life experiences.

I have not properly worded and explained.. i'm coming back to this later.