Danse Macabre
by Bob Caruso
Danse Macabre is a medieval symbolic representation of death. A medieval dance or procession in which a skeleton representing death leads other skeletons or living persons to the grave — called also dance of death.
In more recent times, it is a dance supposedly performed by skeletons in the graveyard. It was generally thought to have been influenced by the 14th century epidemics of bubonic plague in Europe.
In the Middle-Ages, the dance of death was thought of as a warning for powerful men, a comfort to the poor, and ultimately an invitation to lead a responsible and Christian life. But its basic idea is even more simpler, more timeless: to recall the shortness of life. It makes men remember that they all will die, without exception. It is also not astonishing that every century since the Middle-Ages has had its own dances of death.
Photo by Phil Novak