Holbein Mug XIV: The Abbot

Block 14 of Hans Holbein’s Danse Macabre illustrates The Abbot. Death has taken the Abbot’s staff and cap for his own, while the Abbot- portly though having renounced earthly temptations- raises his prayer book to strike Death from behind.

Hans Holbein was a 16th century German woodblock print artist who created his Danse Macabre from 1523 to 1525. Each scene of the Macabre depicts Death intruding on the everyday lives of people from various levels of society. Holbein’s Macabre refashions the Dance of Death allegory into Renaissance Reformist satire. Holbein presents Death in many guises and illustrates that no escapes their ultimate fate; not the innocent, the righteous, the rich, or the pious.

Dimensions: 4” height x 3.375” diameter, 12-13 ounces

As a handmade mug, dimensions and form vary slight with each one.