Der Bärentanz [Bear Dance, Augsburg], 1523 from Flugblatter der Reformation und des Bauernfrieges

1975

Private Collection

Leipzig: Insel-Verlag Anton Kippenberg

Augsburg-based Leonhard Beck (c.1480–1542) was a painter and designer of woodcuts, who at one stage was an assistant to Hans Holbein the Elder. This ‘Bear Dance’ woodcut was executed about 1523. The text above the ox reads (roughly): ‘The ox who tries to flee the butcher / will have to be able to play the pipes’. Above the bear: ‘The bear who wants a long life / has to dance to all sorts of tunes.’ And above the donkey: ‘The donkey who cannot play the timpani / has to carry the sacks to the mill instead.’