_Paintings.--Drawings.--Miscellaneous._
Rene of Anjou is said to have painted a sort of Death's Dance at Avignon,
which was destroyed in the French revolution.
In one of the wardrobe accounts of Henry VIII. a picture at Westminster is
thus described: "Item, a table with the picture of a woman playing upon a
lute, and an old manne holding a glasse in th' one hande and a deadde
mannes headde in th' other hande." MS. Harl. No. 1419.
A round painting in oil, by or from Hans Holbein. The subject, an old man
making love to a young girl. Death pulling him back, hints at the
consequences, whilst the absurdity is manifested by the presence of a
fool, with cockscomb and bauble, on the other side. Diameter, 15 inches.
From the striking resemblance in the features of the old lover to those of
Erasmus, there is no doubt that Holbein intended by this group to retort
upon his friend, who, on one of the drawings which Holbein had inserted in
a copy of Erasmus's Praise of Folly, now in the public library at Basle,
and which represented a fat epicure at table embracing a wench, had
written the name of HOLBEIN, in allusion to his well-known intemperance.
In the present writer's possession.
The small painting by Isaac Oliver, from Holbein, formerly at Whitehall,
of Death with a green garland, &c. already more particularly described at
p. 145.
A small painting in oil, by Old Franks, of a gouty old miser startled at
the unexpected appearance of Death, who approaches him playing on a
violin, one of his feet resting on an hour-glass. In the distance, and in
another room, Death is seen in conversation with a sitting gentleman.
Upright, 7-1/2 by 5-1/2.
The same subject, painted in oil by Otho Vaenius, in which a guitar is
substituted for the violin. This picture was in the collection of Richard
Cosway, Esquire. Upright, 12 by 6, and is now belonging to the present
writer.
A Mr. Knowles, a modern artist, is said to have painted a miser counting
his hoard, and Death putting an extinguisher over him.
At p. 460 of the memoirs of that most ingenious artist, Charles Alfred
Stothard, by his widow, mention is made of an old picture, at Nettlecombe
Hall, Somersetshire, belonging to its owner, a clergyman, of a Dance of
Death.
Mr. Tyssen, a bookseller at Bristol, is said to possess a will of the 15th
century, in which the testator bequeaths a painting of the Dance of Death.
DRAWINGS.
In a beautifully illuminated Psalter, supposed to have been made for
Richard II. and preserved among the Cotton MSS. Domit. xvii. is a very
singular painting, representing part of the choir of a cathedral, with ten
monks sitting in their stalls, and chaunting the service. At the top of
these stalls, and behind it, are five grotesque Deaths looking down on the
monks. One of the Deaths has a cardinal's hat, two have baronial crowns on
their heads, and those of the remaining two are decorated with a sort of
imperial crowns, shaped like the papal tiara. A priest celebrates mass at
the altar, before which another priest or monk prostrates himself. What
the object of the painter was in the introduction of these singular
figures of Death is difficult to comprehend.
[Illustration]
In the manuscript and illuminated copies of the "Romance of the Rose," the
"Pelerin de la vie humaine" and the "Chevalier Delibere," representations
of Death as Atropos, are introduced.
A very ancient and masterly drawing of Death and the beggar, the outlines
black on a blue ground, tinted with white and red. The figures [monogram]
at bottom indicate its having been part of a Macaber Dance. Upright, 5-1/4
by 4. In the author's possession.
Sir Thomas Lawrence had four very small drawings by Callot that seemed to
be part of an intended series of a Dance of Death. 1. Death and the
bishop. 2. Death and the soldier. 3. Death and the fool. 4. Death and the
old woman.
An extremely fine drawing by Rembrandt of four Deaths, their hands joined
in a dance, their faces outwards. One has a then fashionable female cap on
his head, and another a cap and feather. Upright, 9-1/2 by 6-1/2. In the
author's possession.
A very singular drawing in pen and ink and bistre. In the middle, a
sitting figure of a naked man holding a spindle, whilst an old woman,
leaning over a tub on a bench, cuts the thread which he has drawn out.
Near the old woman Death peeps in behind a wall. Close to the bench is a
woman sitting on the ground mending a piece of linen, a child leaning on
her shoulder. On the other side is a sitting female weaving, and another
woman in an upright posture, and stretching one of her hands towards a
shelf. Oblong, 11-1/4 by 8. In the author's possession.
An anonymous drawing in pen and ink of a Death embracing a naked woman.
His companion is mounted on the back of another naked female, and holds a
dart in each hand. Oblong, 4 by 3-1/4. In the author's possession.
A single sheet, containing four subjects, skilfully drawn with a pen and
tinted in Indian ink. 1. An allegorical, but unknown figure sitting on a
globe, with a sort of sceptre in his right hand. Death seizes him by his
garment with great vigour, and endeavours to pull him from his seat. 2.
Two men eating and drinking at a table. Death, unperceived, enters the
room, and levels his dart at them. 3. Death seizes two naked persons very
amorously situated. 4. Death seizes a miser counting his money. In the
author's possession.
Twenty-four very beautiful coloured drawings by a modern artist from those
in the public library at Berne that were copied by Stettler from Kauw's
drawings of the original painting by Nicolas Manuel Deutch. In the
author's possession, together with lithographic copies of them that have
been recently published at Berne.[137]
A modern Indian ink drawing of a drunken party of men and women. Death
above in a cloud levels his dart at them. Upright, 5-1/4 by 3-1/2. In the
author's possession.
A spirited drawing in Indian ink of two Deaths as pugilists with their
bottle-holders. Oblong, 7 by 4-1/2. In the author's possession.
A pen and ink tinted drawing, intitled "The Last Drop." A female seated
before a table on which is a bottle of gin or brandy. She is drinking a
glass of it, Death standing by and directing his dart at her. In the
author's possession.
Mr. Dagley, in the second edition of his "Death's Doings," p. 7, has
noticed some very masterly designs chalked on a wall bordering the road
from Turnham-Green towards Kew-Bridge. They exhibited figures of Death as
a skeleton ludicrously occupied with gamblers, dancers, boxers, &c. all
of the natural size. They were unfortunately swept away before any copies
were made to perpetuate them, as they well deserved. It was stated in The
Times newspaper that these sketches were made by a nephew of Mr. Baron
Garrow, then living in retirement near the spot, but who afterwards
obtained a situation in India. These drawings were made in 1819.
Four very clever coloured drawings by Rowlandson, being probably a portion
of an unfinished series of a Death's Dance. 1. The Suicide. A man seated
near a table is in the act of discharging a pistol at his head. The sudden
and terrific appearance of Death, who, starting from behind a curtain,
significantly stares at him through an eye-glass. One of the candles is
thrown down, and a wine-glass jerked out of the hand of the suicide, who,
from a broken sword and a hat with a cockade, seems intended for some
ruined soldier of fashion. A female servant, alarmed at the report of the
pistol, rushes into the apartment. Below, these verses:
Death smiles, and seems his dart to hide,
When he beholds the suicide.
2. The Good Man, Death, and the Doctor. A young clergyman reads prayers to
the dying man; the females of his family are shedding tears. Death
unceremoniously shoves out the physician, who puts one hand behind him, as
expecting a fee, whilst with the other he lifts his cane to his nostrils.
Below, these lines:
No scene so blest in Virtue's eyes,
As when the man of virtue dies.
3. The Honey-moon. A gouty old fellow seated on a sopha with his youthful
bride, who puts her hand through a window for a military lover to kiss it.
A table covered with a desert, wine, &c. Death, stretching over a screen,
pours something from a bottle into the glass which the husband holds in
his hand. Below, these verses:
When the old fool has drunk his wine,
And gone to rest, I will be thine.
4. The Fortune-teller. Some females enter the conjurer's study to have
their fortunes told. Death seizes the back of his chair and oversets him.
Below, these verses:
All fates he vow'd to him were known,
And yet he could not tell his own.
These drawings are oblong, 9 by 5 inches. In the author's possession.
MISCELLANEOUS.
A circular carving on wood, with the mark of Hans Schaufelin [monogram:
HS], representing Death seizing a naked female, who turns her head from
him with a very melancholy visage. It is executed in a masterly manner.
Diameter, 4 inches. In the author's possession.
In Boxgrove church, Sussex, there is a splendid and elaborately sculptured
monument of the Lords Delawar; and on the side which has not been engraved
in Mr. Dallaway's history of the county, there are two figures of Death
and a female, wholly unconnected with the other subjects on the tomb.
These figures are 9-1/2 inches in height, and of rude design. Many persons
will probably remember to have seen among the ballads, &c. that were
formerly, and are still exhibited on some walls in the metropolis, a poem,
intitled "Death and the Lady." This is usually accompanied with a
wood-cut, resembling the above figures. It is proper to mention likewise
on this occasion the old alliterative poem in Bishop Percy's famous
manuscript, intitled _Death and Liffe_, the subject of which is a
vision wherein the poet sees a contest for superiority between "our
Lady Dame Life," and the "ugly fiend, Dame Death." See "Percy's Reliques
of ancient English poetry," in the Essay on the Metre of Pierce Plowman's
Vision. Whether there may have been any connexion between these respective
subjects must be left to the decision of others. There is certainly some
reason to suppose so.
[Illustration]
The sculptures at Berlin and Fescamp have been already described.
Among the subjects of tapestry at the Tower of London, the most ancient
residence of our kings, was "the Dance of Macabre." See the inventory of
King Henry VIII.'s Guardrobe, &c. in MS. Harl. 1419, fo. 5.
Two panes of glass with a portion of a Dance of Death. 1. Three Deaths,
that appear to have been placed at the beginning of the Dance. Over them,
in a character of the time of Henry VII. these lines:
... ev'ry man to be contented w{t} his chaunce,
And when it shall please God to folowe my daunce.
2. Death and the Pope. No verses. Size, upright, 8-1/2 by 7 inches. In the
author's possession. They have probably belonged to a Macaber Dance in the
windows of some church.