Scheletri tra Oriente e Occidente: Danse macabre e Ikkyū gaikotsu

In the West, skeletons has long been taken as a symbol of death, especially in the allegoric genre of Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) in which they invite all the people, from kings and cardinals down to the lower classes, to join Death in its dance. One of the earliest visual examples of such genre can be seen in the woodcuts of Marchant’s edi- tion of the Danse Macabre, published in 1485. A similar subject can be found in Japan as well in an illustrated book apparently produced in 1457 and called Ikkyu gaikotsu (Ikkyu and the skeletons), in which some skeletons gather and hold a banquet. The Ikkyu mentioned in the title was a Zen monk of the 15th century, but it is unclear whether he was the real author of the book. Although both works intend to express the unavoidability of death, yet they differ greatly in the way they present such concept. While the Danse Macabre depicts a juxtaposition of skeletons and humans beings, in the Ikkyu gaikotsu skeletons act just like humans beings, suggesting an intrinsic identity of life and death. The Danse Macabre hence pre- sents death as opposed to life in a dualistic perspective, whereas Ikkyu gaikotsu maintains a monistic position.