Maca´ber

( The Dance ) or the “Dance of Death” (Arabic, makabir , “a church-yard”). The dance of death was a favorite subject in the Middle Ages for wall-paintings in cemeteries and churches, especially in Germany. Death is represented as presiding over a round of dancers, consisting of rich and poor, old and young, male and female. A work descriptive of this dance, originally in German, has been translated into most European languages, and the wood-cuts after Holbein’s designs, published at Lyons in 1553, have a worldwide reputation. Others are at Minden, Lucerne, Lubeck, Dresden, and the north side of old St. Paul’s. Elsie. What are these paintings on the walls around us? Prince. “The Dance of Macaber”... “The Dance of Death.” Long fellow, The Golden Legend (1851).