Self-Portrait with Death as a Fiddler

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'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 fatal dance, and for his realistic portraiture.