[1] _Anecdotes of Painting_, 8vo. Vol. I. P. 123.
[2] As it may afford the Reader some Satisfaction to be informed
particularly what Characters are represented in this Painting, we here
give a List of them from MERIAN’s Engravings mentioned in the Text: At
the Beginning is a Cut of OECOLOMPADIUS preaching; next follows one of a
Charnel-House, and two Figures of Death piping; after which, in distinct
Cuts, are given the Pope, Emperor, Empress, King, Queen, Cardinal,
Bishop, Duke, Duchess, Count, Abbot, Knight, Lawyer, Magistrate, Canon,
Physician, Gentleman, Lady, Merchant, Abbess, Cripple, Hermit, Young Man,
Usurer, Maiden, Musician, Herald, Mayor, Grand Provost, Buffoon, Pedlar,
Blind Man, Jew, Pagan, Female Pagan, Cook, Peasant, Painter, Painter’s
Wife.
[3] _History of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54, in a Note.
[4] _Anecdotes of Painting_, 8vo. Vol. I. P. 123.
[5] _History of Poetry_, Vol. I. P. 210.
[6] WARTON’s _Hist. of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Formerly called Pardon Church-Yard, about which, says WEEVER,
_Ancient Funeral Monuments_, 4to Edition, 1767, P. 168, “was artificially
and richly painted, the _Dance of Death_ commonly called the _Dance of
Paul’s_; the Picture of Death leading all Estates.”
The above JENKEN CARPENTER was Executor to Sir RICHARD WHITTINGTON, and
had a Licence granted him, Anno 1430, 8 Hen. VI. to establish upon the
Charnel-House of St. Paul’s a Chaplain, to have eight Marks a Year.
WEEVER, _ubi supra_.
[9] _STOW’s Survey of London_, Edit. 4to. 1618, P. 616. An Engraving of
it is inserted in _DUGDALE’s Hist. of St. Paul’s_, Edit. 1658, P. 290,
and under it are given LYDGATE’s Verses, which he observes at the End he
had translated,
“Not Word by Word, but following in Substance.”
The Characters, as may be collected from the Titles to the Verses, are
the Pope, Emperor, Cardinal, King, Patriarch, Constable, Archbishop,
Baron, Princess, Bishop, Squire, Abbot, Abbess, Bailiff, Astronomer,
Burgess, Canon Secular, Merchant, Chartreux, Serjeant, Monk, Usurer,
Physician, Amorous Squire, Gentlewoman, Man of Law, Mr. JOHN REKILL
Tregetour, [_i. e._ Jugler. See the Glossary to URRY’s CHAUCER, Art.
_Treget_] Parson, Juror, Minstrel, Labourer, Friar Minor, Child, Young
Clerk, Hermit, the King eaten of Worms, MACHABREE the Doctor.—DUGDALE, P.
132, says that CARPENTER was a Citizen of London, and that the Painting
at St. Paul’s was in Imitation of that in the Cloister adjoining to St.
Innocent’s Church-Yard, in Paris.
[10] WARTON’s _History of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54.
[11] Mr. WARTON, in his _Observations on SPENSER_, first Edit. P. 230, in
a Note, says, that MACABER wrote a Description in Verse of a Procession,
painted on the Walls of St. Innocent’s Cloister, at Paris, called the
_Dance of Death_; so that in this Passage Mr. WARTON must be supposed to
understand that MACABER’s Verses were written posterior to that Painting.
He further informs us, in the Additions and Corrections to the second
Volume of his _History of Poetry_, that the earliest complete French
Translation of these Verses was printed in 1499, but that a less perfect
Edition had been before published in 1486, and that the French Rhymes
in this last are said to be by MICHEL MAROT. A Copy in French of _La
grande Danse de MACABRE des Hommes et des Femmes_, printed in 4to. at
Troyes, for JOHN GARNIER, but without a Date, I have seen; and find from
the Verses under each Cut, that the Characters are the Pope, Emperor,
Cardinal, King, Legate, Duke, Patriarch, Constable, Archbishop, Knight,
Bishop, Squire, Abbot, Bailiff, Astrologer, Burgess, Canon, Merchant,
School-Master, Man of Arms, Chartreux, Serjeant, Monk, Usurer, Physician,
Lover, Advocate, Minstrel, Curate, Labourer, Proctor, Gaoler, Pilgrim,
Shepherd, Cordelier, Child, Clerk, Hermit, Adventurer, Fool. The Women
are the Queen, Duchess, Regent’s Wife, Knight’s Wife, Abbess, Squire’s
Wife, Shepherdess, Cripple, Burgess’s Wife, Widow, Merchant’s Wife,
Bailiff’s Wife, Young Wife, Dainty Dame, Female Philosopher, New-married
Wife, Woman with Child, Old Maid, Female Cordelier, Chambermaid,
Intelligence-Woman, Hostess, Nurse, Prioress, Damsel, Country Girl, Old
Chambermaid, Huckstress, Strumpet, Nurse for Lying-in Women, Young Girl,
Religious, Sorceress, Bigot, Fool.
[12] WARTON’s _Hist. of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 53.
[13] WARTON’s _History of Poetry_, Vol. II. P. 54.
[14] Ibid.
[15] It cannot be doubted that these additional Cuts are those mentioned
in the Dedication to the Edition of 1538, as being then left unfinished,
for, among them, is the Cut of the Waggoner there particularly described.
[16] WALPOLE’s _Anecdotes of Painting_, Vol. I. P. 123.
[17] KEYSLER, in his Travels before referred to, Vol. I. P. 171, speaking
of the _Dance of Death_, at Basil, says, it is generally reputed to
have been painted by HOLBEIN, who had also drawn and painted a _Death’s
Dance_, and had likewise painted, as it were, a Duplicate of this Piece
on another House, but which Time has entirely obliterated. “However,”
adds he, “for several Reasons the _Death’s Dance_ near the French Church
may be presumed not to be HOLBEIN’s, but the Work of another Artist whose
Name was BOCK.”
[18] WARTON’s _Observations on SPENSER_, Vol. II. P. 117, in the Note.
[19] WALPOLE’s _Anecdotes of Painting_, Vol. I. P. 115.
The CREATION of the WORLD.
_So God created Man in his own Image, in the Image of God created he him:
Male and Female created he them._
GENESIS i. 27.
[Illustration]
In the Beginning, Heav’n and Earth,
And the resounding Sea,
God, by his Voice omnipotent,
From Nothing caus’d to be.
The human Race, the Image true
Of his divinest Mind,
Both Male and Female he did form
From lightest Earth we find.