Holbein's Dance of Death

Holbein the Younger (1497–1543), famed for his portraits of Erasmus and Henry VIII, also produced a remarkable series of woodcuts in Basel in the 1520s. Published in 1538, these images became known as the Dance of Death. Each scene shows Death — a skeletal figure — intruding upon people of every rank: pope, emperor, merchant, child. The message was clear: mortality spares no one.

What made Holbein’s version distinctive was its medium. Earlier Dance of Death cycles were frescoes or murals, fixed to the walls of cloisters and cemeteries. Holbein translated the allegory into printed woodcuts, making the theme portable, reproducible, and accessible to a wider audience. In this sense, he democratized the allegory of death, turning it into something that could circulate like a book rather than remain bound to stone.

We have taken that portability one step further. By adapting Holbein’s images into a card pack we have created a gallery deck that can be held, shuffled, and played. Just as Holbein’s prints moved the Dance of Death from wall to page, our cards move it from page to hand.

We have fittingly made it an all-black-suit, using conventional Spades and Clubs, together with the black Hearts and Diamonds from our Stroop Effect pattern.

Here are the four kings,

And here are the four aces, using a set of similarly themed lettrines Holbein made (as there weren't enough images otherwise)

And the Wild card is the final print in the series, the Escutcheon of Death.

Here is the full set of cards

The full pack of 52 card

The cards appear in the order they did in the original, cycling through the ranks.

If you would like to get a set of our Dance of Death cards, they are available here, printed on demand, at Make Playing Cards.