The Dance of Death, or Danse Macabre, became a powerful artistic motif in the late medieval period. It depicted skeletons leading people from all walks of life kings, peasants, clergy in a macabre dance toward the grave. This allegory emphasized the inevitability and universality of death, mocking social status.
Painted on church walls and in manuscripts, these images served as moral reminders and a darkly humorous way to confront mortality. The repetitive theme highlighted both terror and a sardonic acceptance of death’s indiscriminate reach.