Monday, October 25, 2010

Dancing With Death: A Scottish Doctor's Macabre Obsession

By Nancy Mattoon


Frontispiece From:
COMBE, William. The English dance of death,
from the designs of Thomas Rowlandson,

with metrical illustrations by the author of "Doctor Syntax."

London: R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, 1815-1816.

(All Images Courtesy of University of Glasgow Library.)

William Gemmell, a Scottish physician, spent his life in Glasgow's Victorian era hospitals doing his best to help his patients cheat death. Upon retiring, he returned to pursuing his lifelong interest in history and archeology, and served on a national committee charged with overseeing Scotland's libraries. In 1919, at the relatively early age of 60, Dr. Gemmell had his own visit from the grim reaper he had outwitted for so many others.

Scottish Physician and Dancer With Death,
Dr. William Gemmell (1859-1919).


In his will, he left a collection of 76 rare books to the University of Glasgow, his alma mater. Not so unusual for a gentleman of his standing, but the subject matter of the books was rather unique. Every volume in the good doctor's collection was an illustrated text depicting the Dance of Death. This grisly corpus of texts all featured skeletons or decaying bodies leading the living in a merry conga line to the grave. In these works, a twinkled-toed Angel of Death is an equal opportunity assassin. From the wealthy and powerful to the poor and humble, all will find that Thanatos has signed the final line on their dance cards.

A Memento Mori From:
Todten-tantz wie derselbe in der löblichen
und weitberühmten stadt Basel.
Als ein spiegel menschlicher beschaffenheit.
Gantz künstlich gemahlet und zu sehen ist.
Mit beygefügten, aus H. Schrifft und denen alten
Kirchenlehrern gezogenen erinnerungen, vom todt.
Aufferstehung, jüngsten gericht,
verdammnüss der Gottlosen, und dem ewigen leben.
Nach dem original in kupffer gebracht,
und heraus gegeben;
durch Matth. Merians sel. erben.
Franckfurt : [s.n.], 1696.


No one knows why Dr. Gemmell became so preoccupied with this macabre procession, but his collection of ghoulish gambols covers almost 500 years of choreography for the condemned. The Dance of Death, also called the Danse Macabre or Todtentanz, first appeared as a motif in murals painted on the walls of medieval churches in response to the Black Death. (Its origins are murky, perhaps coming from early plays or poetry written by the clergy.) The concept soon crossed over onto manuscript pages, perhaps as early as 1460, but the Gemmell Collection begins with what is certainly the most famous and influential Todtentanz text, the 1538 volume featuring woodcuts designed by Hans Holbein the younger, and believed to have been engraved onto wood blocks by Hans Lütszelberger.

Hans Holbein Woodcut From:
Simolachri, historie, e figure de la morte
...

Lyone: Appresso Giovan Frellone, 1549.


Holbein's original work contained 41 small woodcut engravings, beginning with Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden, accompanied by a new arrival, Death. In the remaining plates, Death comes calling on everyone from the King of France to the medieval equivalent of a bag lady. The wealthy are often depicted indulging in food and drink, surrounded by fine furnishings and architecture, enjoying lives of excess and greed. Their comfortable lives make Death all the more eager to bring them to their knees. Mr. Bones may have a bit more sympathy for the poor, but all are ultimately equally doomed to join the dance.

Hans Holbein Woodcut From:
Simolachri, historie, e figure de la morte
...

Lyone: Appresso Giovan Frellone, 1549.

Holbein's work has been called one of the greatest illustrated texts ever published. The work was not commissioned, which allowed Holbein free reign to indulge his talent for satire and social commentary. The original conception of the Danse Macabre was as a line of the cavorting damned led by a skeletal Pied Piper. Holbein chose to show a single individual's rendezvous with the Grim Reaper in each woodcut, allowing him to create in great detail a wide variety of landscapes, interiors, and costumes. In addition to the unifying theme of the skeleton surprising each victim at his daily tasks, every illustration also features an hourglass measuring the last precious seconds of life.

Hans Holbein Woodcut From:
Simolachri, historie, e figure de la morte
...

Lyone: Appresso Giovan Frellone, 1549.

The technical perfection of Holbein's woodcuts, their power, clarity, and masterful precision of line led to their tremendous popularity. More than 100 editions of his Dance of Death have been printed, and his influence can be seen in virtually every treatment of the theme since the 15th century. Many later artists produced illustrations almost line for line copies of Holbein's originals, being notable more for their use of advances in engraving and printing, rather than their artistic creativity. A tribute to Holbein's monumental work is the continuing tradition of Dances of Death consisting of a series of illustrations showing a single victim facing the music.

MUSAUS, Johann Karl August.
Freund Heins Erscheinungen in Holbeins Manier/
von J.R. Schellenberg.

Winterthur : Bey Heinrich Steiner und Comp., 1785.


The theme of the Dance of Death remained popular with artists through the centuries after Holbein. The first truly modern update of the theme came in 1785, with the publication of Freund Heins Erscheinungen in Holbeins Manier written by satirist Johann Karl August Musäus and illustrated by Johann Rudolf Schellenberg. Schellenberg was a master engraver, but more important than the fine quality of his work was his complete abandonment of Holbein's characters and scenes. Schellenberg's Death is a merry prankster and master of disguise, who often chooses to claim his victim through a particularly ironic accident. For example, a scholar finds himself felled by his overflowing bookcases.

COMBE, William. The English dance of death,
from the designs of Thomas Rowlandson,

with metrical illustrations by the author of "Doctor Syntax."

London: R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, 1815-1816.

Another significant volume in the Gemmell collection is The English Dance of Death. Dating from 1815-6, this work combines the caustic and witty poetry of William Combe with the masterfully satiric caricatures of Thomas Rowlandson. If any Danse Macabre can be called light-hearted, it is this one. Here, Death is a happy hunter, gleefully claiming his prey, each of whom is such a comic grotesque that it is difficult to feel anything but relief at their exit from this earth. In one illustration, a hen-pecked husband looks on with delight as his shrewish wife is finally tamed by Mr. Bones. Behind him is a comely chambermaid, soon to find herself replacing the virago in her master's bedchamber.

COMBE, William. The English dance of death,
from the designs of Thomas Rowlandson,

with metrical illustrations by the author of "Doctor Syntax."

London: R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, 1815-1816.

The Todtentanz continues to be a popular theme in literature to this day. Frank Wedekind, August Strindberg, and W.H. Auden all wrote plays entitled The Dance of Death. Novels by R.L. Stine, and Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, have also used the title. And Stephen King published a non-fiction book entitled Danse Macabre. While not using the title, director Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of William Makepeace Thackaray's nineteenth century novel, The Luck of Barry Lyndon, ends with a shot of printed text that perfectly sums up the enduring message of the Dance of Death: "It was in the reign of George III that the above named personages lived and quarreled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor they are all equal now ..."

COMBE, William. The English dance of death,
from the designs of Thomas Rowlandson,

with metrical illustrations by the author of "Doctor Syntax."

London: R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, 1815-1816.

A virtual exhibit of the Gemmell Collection, Dancing With Death, is available on the University of Glasgow Library's website.
__________

2 comments:

  1. I was wondering if you know any good resources for Dr. William Gemmell. I am interested in knowing more about him as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Спасибо!
    Было очень интересно :)

    ReplyDelete

 
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