Abstract: Comparing the Blason de la mort by J. de Vauzelles (1536) with its little-known prose “double” which accompanies Holbein’s “Dance of Death” in its 1538 edition, the paper focuses on the possibility of representing abstractions (death and beauty) in figurative form, harking back to Lucian and O. de la Marche. The Blason points out a sensitivity to the theological beauty of resuscitated and glorious bodies, and at the same time to the sensuous beauty of the female body.
