Death appearing to a Wedded Couple from an open Grave

Death had a tangible presence, through war, disease or punishment, in everyday life in the 15-17th centuries, and mortality was an important theme for writers and artists. Since the Middle Ages Danses macabres were painted on the walls of cemetaries or ossuaries, and all sorts of memento mori images where painted, sculpted or printed everywhere. Such Totentänze ('Dances of Death'), a succession of scenes in which people of all ages and walks of life are taken unawares by Death, were especially popular in German speaking territories. A series of tiny woodcuts after Holbein the Younger by Hans Lützelburger was widely disseminated, and one of them, Die Edelfrau ('The Noblewoman'; Passavant 34) appears to have been the inspiration for Rembrandt's etching. The elegant clothes of the young couple holding hands are those of Holbein's time. They stand, apparently unperturbed, in front of a tomb from which a skeleton emerges holding up an hour glass. This, together with the flower held by the women, symbolise both the limit of life and it’s brevity.