The Dance of Death (Click the image for more pictures)

The Dance of Death was a very popular scene during the 15th and 16th century as can be witnessed by the number of occurrences of it in religious buildings across the continent. The Dance of Death of the Cimetière des Innocents in Paris, painted in 1424, is considered the starting point of this tradition and its popularity spread across Europe with 15th and 16th century paintings of the Dance of Death still visible today in Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Although the name and exact content of the Dance of Death varied the subject matter remained the same the notion that regardless of social standing, wealth or position everyone is equal in the eyes of Death. The paintings depict Death leading a cross section of medieval society from Kings to Labourers to their deaths. Each figure was accompanied by a stanza or verse of the character conversing with death. Although the Dance of Death contained many variations the stanzas remained somewhat similar and the content of the stanzas is well recorded elsewhere (such as Dougdale's 1658 The History of Saint Paul's Cathedral, The Ellesmere Manuscript and The Lansdowne Manuscript)

The remnants of the Dance of Death paintings were discovered by Wilfred Puddephat in the nave but were found to be in a very poor and fragmentary condition. This wall of the chapel is now covered from sight behind wood panelling. Puddephat was able to draw the general scheme of the Dance of Death and produced a conjectural image of how the painting may have appeared but it seems he was heavily influenced by the illustrations of Marchant's woodcuts of the dance of Death Cimetière des Innocents in Paris. The sets of figures, in two tiers along the wall of the nave, were shown being led away by death against a floor of vermillion and black tiles.

It is impossible to tell or illustrate exactly how the Dance of Death may have appeared and only future non-invasive archaeological research such as x-ray photography may reveal its true nature. Although Puddephat created his conjectural image based upon some fragmentary remains caution has to be applied when considering this work as the definitive answer but for the moment serves as the only graphical representation of what may have been on the north wall of the nave.

The Dance of Death and Puddephat's images are discussed in more detail in "Historical Notes - The Dance of Death" section of this website.