The Old Woman, from "The Dance of Death"

The Old Woman, from "The Dance of Death," by Hans Holbein the Younger, is a powerful example of Northern Renaissance woodcut artistry, executed between 1521 and 1538 and residing in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This intricate print belongs to Holbein’s highly influential series, Imagines Mortis, better known as The Dance of Death. Though the designs were completed earlier, the series achieved widespread recognition following its first publication in Lyon in 1538.

Younger demonstrated exceptional control over the woodcut medium, translating detailed drawings into fine, expressive lines that captured emotion and movement, distinguishing this series from cruder contemporary prints. The period of the Reformation saw an immense growth in the market for affordable prints, making Holbein’s moralizing visual narratives about human mortality widely accessible.

The subject matter confronts the inevitability of death, a classic memento mori theme popularized during this era. The composition features a lone, central figure—one of the old women figures represented across the series—who is violently seized by a skeleton personifying Death. Unlike medieval danse macabre scenes, Younger often isolates his subjects, heightening the personal drama of their confrontation. The aggressive skeleton pulls the woman, illustrating the relentless, indiscriminate power of fate over all people, regardless of social status or gender. The enduring clarity and emotional depth of these prints have established them as masterworks of graphic art. Today, high-resolution prints from this renowned series are often featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s public domain offerings, ensuring continued study of Younger’s technical and narrative genius.