Medieval Dance of Death Woodcut - Symbolism of Mortality and Morality #3269698 (License: Personal Use)

This black-and-white woodcut, likely from a late medieval Ars Moriendi or Dance of Death tradition, shows a lively skeleton brandishing a club and drum while stepping over a serpent, facing a solemn, bearded scholar in monastic robes. The contrast between animated death and contemplative life underscores themes of vanitas and moral urgency common in pre-Reformation Northern European art. Fine hatching and expressive linework convey movement and tension.

Used in academic articles, museum exhibits, and digital humanities projects on medieval iconography, memento mori, and the cultural history of death; matches user intent for historical art analysis, religious symbolism, or Gothic visual studies.