Holbien XXVI Mug: The Physician

Block 26 of Hans Holbein’s Danse Macabre illustrates The Physician. In this scene, Death disrupts a moment of medical care, reaching into the physician’s bag as he prepares to examine a frail figure. The physician, scholarly and absorbed, is oblivious to the skeletal intruder. The composition underscores the vulnerability of even the most educated and skilled—medicine may prolong life, but cannot conquer mortality.

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 none escape 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 slightly with each one.