# Self-Portrait with Death as a Fiddler

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bbcklin-arnold-r99e064284c08f6/self-portrait-with-death-as-a-fiddler-r5a7dc1c925dde3>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [BBÖCKLIN, Arnold](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/bbcklin-arnold-r99e064284c08f6>)
- Date: 1851-1900
- Technique: Oil on canvas, 75 x 61 cm

## Commentary

Böcklin moved to Munich in 1871 and was close to artists in the circle around Wilhelm Leibl, particularly Hans Thoma, on whom his work had a strong influence. Two self-portraits from this period suggest a new degree of self-confidence. The unfinished Self-Portrait with Death as Fiddler, begun c. 1871 during the artist&#39;s Munich residence, returns to the Medieval motif of the Dance of Death, and to the sharp focus of German early-sixteenth-century likenesses. It is partly modeled upon a supposed work by Holbein, who was famous for his dealing with the theme of the &lt;a onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/h/holbein/hans\_y/2drawing/woodcuts/3death3.html&#39;\)&#34; href=&#34;/html/h/holbein/hans\_y/2drawing/woodcuts/3death3.html&#34;&gt;fatal dance,&lt;/a&gt; and for his &lt;a onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/h/holbein/hans\_y/1535/2gisze.html&#39;\)&#34; href=&#34;/html/h/holbein/hans\_y/1535/2gisze.html&#34;&gt;realistic portraiture.&lt;/a&gt;

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)