(1) The section of a pedestal between base and surbase. (2) The
lower portion of the wall of a room, decorated diffrently from
the upper section. The dance of death, a favorite late medieval
picture subject. It generally shows skeletons forcing the living
to dance with them, usually in matching pairs, e.g. a live
priest dancing with a skeleton priest. Holbein's woodcut series
the Dance of Death is one of the most famous. Refers to a style
of painting that developed in Regensburg, Germany, and elsewhere
along the Danube river during the Renaissance and Reformation.
It is characterized by a renewed interest in medieval piety, an
expressive use of nature, the relationship of the human figure
and events to nature, and the introduction of landscape as a
primary theme in art. The term was coined by Theodor von Frimmel
(1853-1928), who believed that painting in the Danube River
region around Regensburg, Passau, and Linz possessed common
characteristics; the style seems to exist even though leading
artists did not fo