LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
N.B.—The German titles are in general modernized from those which appear above the engraver's proofs. The numerals are those of the cuts.
| The Creation | [I] |
| Die Schöpfung aller Ding. | |
Eve is taken from the side of Adam. | |
| The Temptation | [II] |
| "Adam Eua im Paradyss." | |
Eve, having received an apple from the serpent, prompts Adam to gather more. | |
| The Expulsion | [III] |
| "Vsstribung Ade Eue." | |
Adam and Eve, preceded by Death, playing on a beggar's lyre or hurdy-gurdy, are driven by the angel from Eden. | |
| The Consequences of the Fall | [IV] |
| Adam baut die Erden. | |
Adam, aided by Death, tills the earth. Eve, with a distaff, suckles Cain in the background. | |
| A Cemetery | [V] |
| Gebein aller Menschen. | |
A crowd of skeletons, playing on horns, trumpets, and the like, summon mankind to the grave. | |
| The Pope | [VI] |
| Der Päpst. | |
The Pope (Leo X.) with Death at his side, crowns an Emperor, who kisses his foot. Another Death, in a cardinal's hat, is among the assistants. | |
| The Emperor | [VII] |
| Der Kaiser. | |
The Emperor (Maximilian I.) rates his minister for injustice to a suitor. But even in the act Death discrowns him. | |
| The King | [VIII] |
| Der König. | |
The King (Francis I.) sits at feast under a baldachin sprinkled with fleurs-de-lis. Death, as a cup-bearer, pours his last draught. | |
| The Cardinal | [IX] |
| Der Cardinal. | |
Death lifts off the Cardinal's hat as he is handing a letter of indulgence to a rich man. Luther's opponent, Cardinal Cajetan, is supposed to be represented. | |
| The Empress | [X] |
| Die Kaiserinn. | |
The Empress, walking with her women, is intercepted by a female Death, who conducts her to an open grave. | |
| The Queen | [XI] |
| Die Königinn. | |
Death, in the guise of a court-jester, drags away the Queen as she is leaving her palace. | |
| The Bishop | [XII] |
| Der Bischof. | |
The sun is setting, and Death leads the aged Bishop from the sorrowing shepherds of his flock. | |
| The Duke | [XIII] |
| Der Herzog. | |
The Duke turns pitilessly from a beggar-woman and her child. Meanwhile Death, fantastically crowned, lays hands on him. | |
| The Abbot | [XIV] |
| Der Abt. | |
Death, having despoiled the Abbot of mitre and crozier, hales him along unwilling, and threatening his enemy with his breviary. | |
| The Abbess | [XV] |
| Die Abtissin. | |
Death, in a wreath of flags, pulls away the Abbess by her scapulary in sight of a shrieking nun. | |
| The Nobleman | [XVI] |
| Der Edelmann. | |
Death drags the resisting Nobleman towards a bier in the background. | |
| The Canon, or Prebendary | [XVII] |
| Der Domherr. | |
The Canon, with his falconer, page, and jester, enters the church door. Death shows him that his sands have run. | |
| The Judge | [XVIII] |
| Der Richter. | |
Death withdraws the Judge's staff as he takes a bribe from a rich suitor. | |
| The Advocate | [XIX] |
| Der Fürsprach. | |
Death comes upon him in the street while he is being feed by a rich client. | |
| The Counsellor, or Senator | [XX] |
| Der Rathsherr. | |
The Counsellor, prompted by a devil, is absorbed by a nobleman, and turns unheeding from a poor suppliant. But Death, with glass and spade, is waiting at his feet. | |
| The Preacher | [XXI] |
| Der Predicant. | |
Death, in a stole, stands in the pulpit behind the fluent Preacher, and prepares to strike him down with a jaw-bone. | |
| The Priest, or Pastor | [XXII] |
| Der Pfarrherr. | |
He carries the host to a sick person. But Death precedes him as his sacristan. | |
| The Mendicant Friar | [XXIII] |
| Der Mönch. | |
Death seizes him just as his begging box and bag are filled. | |
| The Nun | [XXIV] |
| Die Nonne. | |
The young Nun kneels at the altar, but turns to her lover who plays upon a lute. Death meantime, as a hideous old hag, extinguishes the altar candles. | |
| The Old Woman | [XXV] |
| Das Altweib. | |
"Melior est mors quam vita" to the aged woman who crawls gravewards with her bone rosary while Death makes music in the van. | |
| The Physician | [XXVI] |
| Der Arzt. | |
Death brings him a hopeless patient, and bids him cure himself. | |
| The Astrologer | [XXVII] |
| (See p. 10, l. 12.) | |
He contemplates a pendent sphere. But Death thrusts a skull before his eyes. | |
| The Rich Man | [XXVIII] |
| Der Reichmann. | |
Death finds him at his pay-table and seizes the money. | |
| The Merchant | [XXIX] |
| Der Kaufmann. | |
Death arrests him among his newly-arrived bales. | |
| The Shipman | [XXX] |
| Der Schiffmann. | |
Death breaks the mast of the ship, and the crew are in extremity. | |
| The Knight | [XXXI] |
| Der Ritter. | |
Death, in cuirass and chain-mail, runs him through the body. | |
| The Count | [XXXII] |
| Der Graf. | |
Death, as a peasant with a flail, lifts away his back-piece. | |
| The Old Man | [XXXIII] |
| Der Altmann. | |
Death, playing on a dulcimer, leads him into his grave. | |
| The Countess | [XXXIV] |
| Die Grafinn. | |
Death helps her at her tiring by decorating her with a necklet of dead men's bones. | |
| The Noble Lady, or Bride | [XXXV] |
| Die Edelfrau. | |
"Me et te sola mors separabit"—says the motto. And Death already dances before her. | |
| The Duchess | [XXXVI] |
| Die Herzoginn. | |
Death seizes her in bed, while his fellow plays the fiddle. | |
| The Pedlar | [XXXVII] |
| Der Kramer. | |
Death stops him on the road with his wares at his back. | |
| The Ploughman | [XXXVIII] |
| Der Ackermann. | |
Death runs at the horses' sides as the sun sinks, and the furrows are completed. | |
| The Young Child | [XXXIX] |
| Das Junge Kind. | |
As the meagre cottage meal is preparing, Death steals the youngest child. | |
| The Last Judgment | [XL] |
| Das jüngste Gericht. | |
"Omnes stabimus ante tribunal Domini." | |
| The Escutcheon of Death | [XLI] |
| Die Wappen des Todes. | |
The supporters represent Holbein and his wife. | |
[Added in later editions] | |
| The Soldier | [XLII] |
Death, armed only with a bone and shield, fights with the Soldier on the field of battle. | |
| The Gamester | [XLIII] |
Death and the Devil seize upon the Gambler at his cards. | |
| The Drunkard | [XLIV] |
Men and women carouse: down the throat of one bloated fellow Death pours the wine. | |
| The Fool | [XLV] |
The Fool dances along the highway with Death, who plays the bagpipes. | |
| The Robber | [XLVI] |
Death seizes the Robber in the act of pillage. | |
| The Blind Man | [XLVII] |
Death leads the Blind Man by his staff. | |
| The Waggoner | [XLVIII] |
The waggon is overturned; one Death carries off a wheel, the other loosens the fastening of a cask. | |
| The Beggar | [XLIX] |
The Beggar, lying on straw outside the city, cries in vain for Death. | |
[Two others, not found in the earlier editions, "The Young Wife," and "The Young Husband," are not included in the Douce reprint for which the foregoing blocks were engraved.] | |
