1858 Holbein Dance of Death: New-Married Lady

The image titled “The New-Married Lady” is one of the later woodcut scenes in the Dance of Death series attributed to Hans Holbein, in which Death abruptly interrupts the comfortable life of a newly married woman to underline the brevity and uncertainty of worldly happiness.

In this edition, “The New-Married Lady” sits within a sequence that moves through all ranks and conditions of society, showing Death as an uninvited guest at moments of pleasure, power, or security; here, Death’s intrusion into a seemingly idyllic domestic or romantic scene emphasizes how quickly fortunes, beauty, and social position can be overturned. Bohn’s 1858 edition was aimed at Victorian readers with antiquarian interests, combining Holbein-derived imagery, Douce’s extensive historical dissertation, and additional “Bible cuts” to present the series not just as a moral emblem book, but as a carefully edited monument of Renaissance religious art and Reformation-era satire.

This is an antique item from the 1858 edition of Holbein's Dance of Death, published in London by Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. See photo for exact citation.

Details

• Subject: Plate XXXV, The New-Married Lady, from Holbein's Dance of Death

• Artist: After Hans Holbein the Younger (designs about 1525–26)

• Technique: Wood engraving by Bonner and Byfield, first cut for Douce's 1833 edition

• Source: Leaf from Holbein's Dance of Death, with Francis Douce's dissertation (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1858)

• Text: Latin verse from Ruth 1 and Douce's description, printed below the cut

• Era: 1858, antique

Condition

Good. The paper has yellowed evenly with age (toning); no foxing to the image. The leaf came from the book's loose pages and shows a little evidence of that.

Please note

• Comes in the black mat with the gold border shown in the photos.

• Blank on the back.