The Parisian Danse Macabre: early transmission and reception

This project aims at studying the 15th century French Dance of Death (Danse Macabre) and its dissemination, reception and adaptation in the Romance linguistic area, thus contributing to interdisciplinary research on the culture of Death in medieval and Early Modern Europe. In particular, this research project will address the formation of the textual canon of the macabre genre in the Romance- language world. The research will be based on an analysis of the extant manuscripts, incunabula and murals containing different versions of the Danse Macabre. This Middle French text circulated extensively both in France and elsewhere in Europe, and is considered a key work in the spread of the literary and artistic genre of the Dance of Death. The original Danse, painted on a wall of the Des Innocents cemetery in Paris in 1424-1425 and destroyed in the 17th century, was a work of art based on the fusion of text and image. My research will focus on the textual element of this monument, with particular attention paid to the relations between the different versions of the text. For this purpose, all fifteen extant French manuscripts, the earliest printed editions and the transcripts accompanying mural paintings in some French churches will be studied. Furthermore, the most important indirect Romance witnesses of the Danse Macabre will be examined. Among these are the transcripts accompanying mural paintings in the Piedmont region in Italy, the fifteenth-century translations of this text into Catalan and Latin, and the Italian poem Ballo della morte dating from the late 15th to the early 16th century. I will propose an analysis of the textual tradition, with particular attention to the genealogical relations between the artifacts. I will also prepare critical editions of one French version, different from the main archetype, and of the Italian reworking. The results of this research will provide a solid philological basis for preparing a critical edition that can fully represent the complexity of the textual tradition of the Danse Macabre, for mapping the multilingual dissemination of this work, and for a systematic study of text-image interactions in the Danse Macabre tradition. Much attention will be paid to the passage of this work from mural painting to manuscript and print, and from one language to another. A study of the dissemination of this text across Romance languages will help to better assess the impact of the French Danse Macabre on European culture in the transition between the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Additionally, the results of this research will contribute to enhancing and diversifying European cultural tourism offerings.

The project focused on the early textual versions of the 15th-entury French Dance of Death (Danse Macabre), and its results provide a solid philological basis for preparing a critical edition of this important text. The Middle French Danse Macabre circulated extensively both in France and elsewhere in Europe and is considered a key work in the spread of the literary and artistic genre of the Dance of Death. The Danse was originally painted on a wall of the Des Innocents cemetery in Paris in 1424- 1425 and destroyed in the 17th century. The Parisian Danse was a work of art based on the fusion of text and image, and we know much about both elements as they were preserved in manuscript, printed and painted copies on different supports. The research primarily addressed the textual element of this monument, with particular attention paid to the relations between the different versions of the text. For this purpose, all fifteen extant French manuscripts, the earliest printed editions and the transcripts accompanying mural paintings in some French churches were studied. The project leader Dr. Alina Zvonareva examined and described all original manuscripts in the libraries holding them and visited the churches where mural painting with captions are still preserved. Furthermore, she researched the most important texts in other Romance languages, indirectly derived from the Danse Macabre. Among these are the transcripts accompanying mural paintings in the Piedmont region in Italy, the 15th-century translations of this text into Catalan and the Italian poem Ballo della morte dating from the late 15th to the early 16th century. The project leader prepared critical editions of two French versions, one of which is different from the main archetype, and of the Italian reworking. Two international project-related conferences, organised by the project leader and her academic host Prof. Raymund Wilhelm, took place at the Alpen-Adria University of Klagenfurt. The respective proceedings are currently being edited. Moreover, the project leader is working on an article and an open-access monograph that will contain the most important results of her research on the early textual versions of the Danse Macabre. In the book, much attention will be paid to the passage of the text from mural painting to manuscript and print, and from one language to another. Besides a critical edition that can fully represent the complexity of the textual tradition of the Danse Macabre, the results of the research provide a basis for mapping the multilingual dissemination of this work.