"Since the dawn of human thought, mankind has been profoundly preoccupied with the phenomenon of death, seeking answers to the question of the meaning of life and dying, and expressing those ideas in visual form. Few people know that Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf hosts an art collection of international importance. Under the title 'Man and Death', more than 2,600 original works have been gathered, including graphic prints by nearly all major representatives of European art history. The collection contains an almost complete sequence of representative Dance-of-Death cycles, beginning with Hans Holbein the Younger?s 'Imagines mortis' (1526) and continuing through modern interpretations by contemporary artists. It also presents a wide range of individual depictions of transience and mortality from the late 15th century to the present. This companion book to the exhibition 'Das Bild vom Tod' reveals, for the first time, the full scope of the Duesseldorf collection." / This German exhibition catalog presents the renowned print collection 'Mensch und Tod' ('Man and Death') of Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf. It includes thousands of original graphic works ranging from the late Middle Ages to modern times, exploring the artistic and philosophical representations of death, decay, and transience. Essays by experts discuss topics such as 'The Dancing Death', 'Death at the Right Time', 'The Dance of Death in Modern Art', 'Progress and Death', and 'Dance of Death and the Healing Professions'. With numerous illustrations, both monochrome and color, the book offers an in-depth historical, artistic, and cultural study of death imagery in European printmaking.