Of Dead Kings, Dukes and Constables: The Historical Context of the Danse Macabre in Late Medieval Paris

Abstract

As discussed in an earlier article published in vol. 157 (2004) of this journal, the starting point of most studies on the medieval Danse macabre is the extensive mural scheme executed in the parish cemetery of Les Saints Innocents in Paris in 1424–25. Little attention has hitherto been given to the political circumstances surrounding this scheme's creation during the Anglo-Burgundian occupation of the French capital. The dual presentation of the king as both a victim of death amidst the ranks of the living and as a worm-eaten corpse at the end of the scheme is especially intriguing in view of the deaths in quick succession of Henry V of England and Charles VI of France in 1422. It is these topical references that explain the quick rise to fame of what at first sight might be just another medieval didactic lesson about mortality and sin. The allusions to contemporary figures incorporated into the mural's text and imagery or (in the case of the duke) the avoidance of any such allusions are examined. A case is presented for the deployment of 'cryptoportraits' in the imagery and a novel suggestion made as to the identity of the previously unidentified patron.