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The Priest
Bewick, John, 1789, Wood cut
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of 57
The Priest
The Priest
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Item no
28468
Title
The Priest
Description
The priest walks through the city to administer the sacrament of mass to a sick person; he carries the sacred host in a covered vessel called a ciborium. The bell-ringer who leads the company and clears the way is Death in disguise; that the priest is oblivious to this fact is suggestive of Death's invisible and unpredictable nature. This depiction of Death is also a reminder that priests, like everyone else, are as mortal as the laymen they minster to.
Artist / maker
Bewick, John
Date
1789
Size
7.3 x 6.0 cm
Type
Wood cut
Location
Art and Design Library
This woodcut is one of a series by John Bewick, which was first published in 1789. The series was based on a sixteenth-century Dance of Death by Hans Holbein the Younger. Bewick's woodcuts were reprinted in 1795 and 1801 by the publisher Robert Bassam. In October 1803, the blocks were destroyed in a fire in Bassam's shop, but the prints were reproduced once more as a reissue by a Newcastle publisher in 1810. This particular image is from a 1789 edition which is held in Central Library's Dance of Death Collection.
Exhibitions with this item
An introduction to the Dance of Death
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