Varga Benedek szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 149-157. (Budapest, 1996)

KRÓNIKA / CHRONICLE - I. A Semmelweis Orvostörténeti Múzeum, Könyvtár és Levéltár kiállításai és rendezvényei - (3) Haláltánc és gyógyítás. Kiállítás a düsseldorfi Heinrich Heine Egyetem Orvostörténeti Intézetének „Ember és Halál” c. grafikai gyűjteményéből. 1995. május 19—szeptember 30. (Mohos Márta)

a grim demon, with the claws and head of a monster like the Gods of the Underworld, the so called Furies of Satan. In the Indian culture it was Shiwa and in the Germanic world, Hel. In the Classical world he became a beautiful youth with wings, only his dying torch pointing downwards; distinguished him from his brother Hypnos, the God of Sleep, and his son Morpheus, the God of Dreams. The skeleton as the emblem of death, established itself only very gradually in the art of the high and late Middle Ages. Since the 15th century it found its symbolic place in the 'Danses Macabres', either as a mummified corpse or a pure skeleton. To begin with, they were on immense frescoes of round dances, which originally showed the dance of the living and the dead, who had left their graves at the witching hour, and it was not until later that the skeleton personified death itself. They reached their first culmination in 1525, in the famous series of Hans Holbeins ' 'danse macabre'. This was followed, in the 19th century, by Alfred Rethel and Max Klinger and, in our times, by Ernest Barlach and Alfred Kubin who marked the start of the renaissance of this subject. It is a recent discovery, which is, nevertheless, documented in the appropriate literature, that even contemporary artists turn to this macabre symbolism. All depictions of the 'Danse Macabre' obviously go back to the ancient legend, originating in the Near East, about the encounter of the three Living with the three Dead. On their rides, three Kings meet three dead men who call out to the frightened living: 'Quod fuimus, estis, quod sumus eritis' — "We have been what you are, what we are, you will be." However, the skeleton appeared in an often anatomically impossible form. Occasionally, death himself was shown not as a skeleton, but as a decomposing corpse with the tattered skin and muscle being eaten by vermin, particularly toads and snakes. This way death was presented not something outside of mankind but appeared to be an integral part of it. Nevertheless, the skeleton or a part of it, the skull, becomes the symbol of the final reign. The skeleton also became the symbol of medical science, in particular — anatomy. In the first edition of his classic work, 'De humani corporis fabrica ' (1543), the great Andreas Vesalius attributed the famous maxim 'We live through the Spirit, the rest will return to Death' ('Vivitur ingenio, cetera mortis erunt'), to a skull, which he was pointing at. In the first 'Danses Macabres' there are desperate attempts to escape Hell, to reach at least Purgatory and possibly, at a later stage, Eternity or even Heaven itself. Later, the generally unsuccessful, bargaining with a personified Death is mainly concerned with the postponement of the time of decay. This is the time to point out that one can only understand the 'Danses Macabres' fully, when one takes into account the change in attitude towards death. This started around 1000 AD in the Christian civilisation. One must not forget either that the early Christians preferred Christ's monogram, or the fish, and the anchor of fidelity to the cross, as the symbol of their new religion. Christ was mostly seen as the Good Shepherd, who carries the sheep entrusted to him back to the flock. The later replacement of the round dance of death by the individual 'Danses Macabres' had far reaching consequences. With individual portrayal, death was personified and became the terrifying figure we still recognise today — the corpse, the mummy or the skeleton — with all the numerous attributes which we still understand in our times — the scythe; the grim musical instrument made from bones which accompanied the 'Danses Macabres'; the hourglass which can be seen as a reference to the well known maxim 'Death is certain, it's hour is not' ('Mors certa, hora incerta'); the bow and arrow of the insidious execution; and the crossbow and net with which death catches his victims.