2025 № 4 (55)

UDC 7.033; 7.035

BBC 85.103(3)

DOI: 10.51678/2226-0072-2025-4-178-207

For cit.: Bulgarov V.S. The Image of Death in Alfred Rethel’s Graphic Sheets in the Context of Sociopolitical Events in Germany in the Mid-19th Century. Hudozhestvennaya kul’tura [Art & Culture Studies], 2025, no. 4, pp. 178–207. https://doi.org/10.51678/2226-0072-2025-4-178-207. (In Russian) 

Bulgarov Vyacheslav S. 

PhD Student (in Art History), Department of the History of Western European Art. Institute of History St. Petersburg State University, 7/9 Universitetskaya Emb., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia 

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6624-4427

ResearcherID: LGZ-0098-2024

bulgaroff@mail.ru, st082248@student.spbu.ru

The Image of Death in Alfred Rethel’s Graphic Sheets in the Context of Sociopolitical Events in Germany in the Mid-19th Century 

Abstract. The article examines the relationship between the graphic works of Alfred Rethel (1816–1859) dedicated to the image of Death and the revolutionary historical events in Europe in the mid-19th century. His work reveals a rethinking of the medieval genre in the context of the realities of his time, which allowed the artist to create a unique series of works that not only revived interest in the theme, but also shaped its development for many decades to come. The use of the comparative method and the formal and stylistic analysis reveals common features of the iconographic image of Death in the graphics of A. Rethel and old masters, in particular H. Holbein and A. Dürer. The innovation of Another Dance of Death (1848–1849) by A. Rethel is that, unlike all its predecessors, it is primarily a fully consistent story interpreted in the light of the historical circumstances of its time. The episodes of this series can be considered both separately and as a whole, since they were published in two versions: as independent sheets, each of which could already be perceived as a separate narrative, and as a complete format with six chronologically arranged compositions. The latter option allows us to analyse the cycle as a single composition, logical and complete. Also, the opportunity to see Rethel’s works through the prism of the artist’s own political views leads to the conclusion that his point of view, relevant to the mood of the liberal bourgeoisie, shows revolution as an uprising of a deceived people which inevitably results in victims and destruction.

Keywords: Alfred Rethel, Dance of Death, Friedrich Hecker, German Revolution of 1848, Hans Holbein the Younger, Albrecht Dürer, woodcut 

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Received 13.02.2025

Accepted 21.05.2025