The Nuremberg Chronicle: Social Effects of Disease and Death
Hartmann Schedel, Liber Chronicarum (The Nuremberg Chronicle). Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1493. Rare and Distinctive Collections, CU Boulder Libraries.
"The Plague of Locusts"
Hartmann Schedel was the author of the Liber Chronicarum (The Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493). He was a German historian, physician, humanist, and one of the first cartographers to use the printing press. He was born in Germany, February 13, 1440 and attended Leizpig University. This woodcut of locusts illustrates the plague, which struck Asia, then Europe, beginning in 1347. The Liber Chronicarum reads:
“A pitiful and lamentable pestilence began in the year 1348 and endured for three years throughout the world. It resulted from the aforesaid locusts or vermin. It started in India and spread as far as England, ravaging Italy and France, and finally Germany and Hungary. The mortality was so rapid and great that barely ten persons out of every thousand survived. In some regions only about one third of the population escaped. Many cities, towns, marts and villages died out entirely and remained void" (Liber Chronicarum, Folio CCXXX recto).
The connection between locusts and the plague is seen in the biblical 2 Chronicles (7:12-14) and in the book of Exodus:
12 And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.”
13So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts;
14They invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again” (Exodus 10: 12-14, New International Version).
Illustrations of the plague of locusts appear in a number of medieval and early modern illuminated manuscripts, including a medieval Haggadah (a Jewish text of the Passover) illustrating the Ten Plagues of Egypt, held at the British Library (BL, Add.27210, f.13).
- Niko Crane, Fall '22
"The Burning of the Jews"
The image seen here shows ”The Burning of the Jews” a wooduct printed in the Nuremberg Chronicle (“Schedelsche Weltchronik”) in 1493. The Chronicle is an illustrated historical text that follows the history of the bible and western European history, written by Hartmann Schedel in Latin (Bridgeman Art Library, 2012). The intended audience for this piece was quite broad. The Nuremberg Chronicle had thousands of images printed in it as well – even those who couldn’t read could interpret images from the book (Duke Magazine, 2018). This piece originated from Michael Wolgemut’s workshop in Nuremberg. The woodcuts produced in Wolgemut’s workshop were not all created by him, but the work from his shop provided many illustrations to the Nuremberg Chronicle (Leo Baek Institute n.d.).
In this piece, Jews are burned in 1338 by local anti-Semitic citizens of Deggendorf, Bavaria for the alleged descration of the Host and between 1348 and 1551 for their supposed poisoning of the wells during outbreaks of plague. As one looks closer, one can see the agonized faces of those being burned alive, as a figure adds logs to the fire. Anti-Jewish people set fire to Jewish homes and murdered the inhabitants. The killing spread to 21 other places in the German state of Bavaria (Leo Baek Institute n.d.). Blaming the Jews for poisoning the wells was not logical because the Jews in those cities/states drank from those wells and were sick at higher rates than the non-Jews. The purpose of this work was to reflect the event of townsfolk committing genocide because of anti-Semitic conspiracies. These anti-Semitic ideals can be seen repeatedly throughout public health history. Medical knowledge was limited during the medieval period – people often blamed these catastrophes on opposing religious groups and many found the answers within the anti semitic confederacy (The Weiner Holocaust Library n.d.).
Another image, which appears in the Annales, written by Gilles li Muisi, in Belgium between 1352 and 1360, depicts similar scene (the manuscript is now held in the Royal Library of Belgium). One can observe observers watching as two men add wood to the fire, burning alive the victims. Jews were accused of being recruited by the Devil to pour poisonous water into the wells to infect Christians with the disease (The Weiner Holocaust Library n.d.). The numerous art pieces similar to “Burning of the Jews” and “Burning of Jews” originating from various parts of Europe convey the common occurrence of this genocide, despite its lack of logic. This resulted in countless Jews murdered, as well as whole communities being eradicated across Europe (The Weiner Holocaust Library n.d.).
- Aly Laurain, Spring, '23
"The Dance of Death"
The ‘Dance of Death’ or ‘Imago Mortis’, shown above, is a woodcut found in Hartman Schedel’s Chronicle of the World” (1493) otherwise known as the Nuremberg Chronicle. The Nuremberg Chronicle tells the history of the world until 1493, it includes information on the ancient Greeks as well as the more modern bubonic plague and scientific advancements. The ‘Dance of Death’ was created by Michael Wolgemut in 1493. Wolegemut was a German etching artist during the 15th century, according to Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussichen Kunstsammlungen, which summarizes the arts of the Prussian empire during the fifteenth century (Jahrbuch, 1886). Wolgemut spent much of his life in Nuremberg, Germany creating altar pieces and other works of art. In Nuremberg during the artist's life, memorial pictures of the dead were popular and he was frequently entrusted with bringing these ideas to life (Strieder, 2003). Beyond just participating in the artistic movements of the time Wolgemut influenced the development of woodcut art (Strieder, 2003).
The piece depicts four dancing skeletons and one rising from the grave. These skeletons seem to be in a state of celebration because two of them are jumping off the ground and one is playing an instrument. The skeleton on the far left still has the feet and hands of a living human but the skull of a skeleton, this is similar to the skeleton who is rising from the ground. Almost suggesting they are shedding their living forms and are excited about it. Wolgemut’s unique style of woodcut is seen within the ‘Dance of Death’. The drawing shows various shadowing features that were brought on by his further development of the woodcut art and his attempts to create depth and dimension.
This piece fits into the broader history of medicine and public health because it shows how opinions and ideas around death and dying changed in the years following the bubonic plague in Europe. This piece demonstrates how illness and health were believed to act. It also shows an interplay between illness and religion. The skeletons are dancing happily, having shed their skin, presumably making their way to heaven. This is exacerbated by the purpose of the piece which is to demonstrate the joys of after death. Which was important since, “Most sufferers during the plague outbreak turned to their religion for solace (Huber). The understanding of medicine in the Dance of Death shows how health and medicine was still tied with the religious aspects of society. Something that was evident in Galen. With the early belief in illness being caused by an imbalance of humors Galen begins the idea that illness is caused by some kind of imbalance: sometimes medical and sometimes spiritual.
The "Danse Macabre" was a popular motif for art and music in the 15th century, showing a cultural reaction to the presence of death in society. It is the main theme shown in the woodcut by Wolgemut. The ‘Danse Macabre’ shows the culmination of social ideas surrounding death and dying through art. It was thought of as a warning to powerful people and a comfort to the poor, the constant presence of death would encourage both groups to lead a morally righteous life.5 Preceding the theme ‘Danse Macabe’ was a popular theme “Vado Mori” and “Momento Mori”. They were another genre of literature which exemplified the idea of death, in a reminder that you too will die (Pollefeys).
The origins of a ‘Danse Macabre’ come out of these literary traditions. A popular French poem coming from the “Vado Mori'' tradition is thought to have inspired the creation of Danse Macabe and thereby the woodcut “The Dance of Death”. The French poem is entitled "Vado Mori" (I prepare myself to die) (Sheposh, 2023). Another possible origin for Wolgemut's work is The Three Living and the Three Dead. According to Rochester, the story of “The Three Living and the Three Dead” is about “Three young kings go on a hunting expedition, reveling in the glories of youth and wealth. In the woods they come across three corpses in various stages of decomposition. Recoiling in horror, the kings are even more surprised when the corpses address them directly. The dead remind the kings of the transitoriness of earthly things and remind the kings that they will, despite their rich apparel and fine living, inevitably become rotted corpses as well. The dead function as a mirror image to the three fine men, and the message is inevitably the same: "What you are, so once were we; what we are, so shall you be" (Huber).
The encounter encourages a change of heart in the hunters, who, perceiving themselves now hunted by death, resolve to focus more on their spiritual welfare.”9 Demonstrating how the woodcut of the dancing skeletons was more of a representation of a changed paradigm about death instead of a new reverence for death. The story of The Three Living and the Three Dead also shows how entangled the concept of death was with religion during the fifteenth century.
There are countless other examples of art representing the dance of death theme. They range from the 15th century to the 18th century. Several of them are in Germany, just like the “Danse Macabre”. Saint Mary’s Church in Berlin has a fresco depicting a dance with death (Pollefeys). The art is shown in figures 2 and 3. It was created in 1484 and later modified in the next century (Pollefeys). Unlike Wolgemut’s woodcut, the humans seem to be dancing with death on their way to the next world. In Wolgemut’s depiction it is just the skeletons dancing, without the literal presence of death. In the Saint Mary’s fresco people from mainly religious backgrounds join the dance, “The 27 characters taking part in this dance of death belong to the laity as well as to the clergy. A Franciscan friar (the artist ?) in his pulpit opens the dance. At his feet are painted two strange misshapen creatures : one is playing bagpipe and the other is crouching on the ground. Several characters then join the dance : a sacristan, a chaplain ( ?), an official, an Augustinian friar, a Dominican friar, a pastor, a Carthusian monk, a doctor, a monk, a canon, an abbot, a bishop, a cardinal, and the pope” (Pollefeys). As was stated earlier the dance of death was meant as a reminder to people that everyone dies and is subject to the same judgment. This is represented in the Berlin fresco because death visits everyone, from a lowly peasant all the way to the Pope.
Another example of the dance of death is Der Doten dantz mit figuren. Clage und Antwort schon von allen staten der welt. This is a 38 woodcut long piece that culminates in the skeletons getting up out of their graves and dancing.13 (Pollefeys). This woodcut was most likely printed by Heinrich Knoblocher in 1486 and printed in Heidelberg (Pollefeys). The style of this piece is similar to Wolgemut as they are both woodcuts and depict the skeletons dancing at the end, almost joyfully (Figure 4) The depictions show how death was a presence in life and could strike anybody at any time. Wolgemut’s image and the images in Berlin and Der Doten dantz mit figuren Clage und Antwort schon von allen staten der welt all stay consistent with the ideology of the ‘danse macabe’. The images show death leading people from different walks of life to death as joyfully, the people are holding hands with death or death or rejoicing in death. In all of the images it looks as if death is literally dancing its way out of the grave or along the path of the ‘danse macabre.’ The images show death leading people from different walks of life to death as joyfully, the people are holding hands with death or death or rejoicing in death. In all of the images it looks as if death is literally dancing its way out of the grave or along the path.
These works of art reflect an important aspect of society, death. They show that despite the disease surrounding the people of the time death was nothing to fear. And perhaps they show that death was something to rejoice in because of the disease. After death there would be no more suffering or worry about diseases. Overall, the Danse Macabre shows a very important aspect of society during the fifteenth century.
- Abby Armstrong, Spring, '23