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Dance of Death in the Chapel of Kermaria an Iskuit

Chapel of Kermaria an Iskuit is a monument near Plouha town (department of Côtes-d'Armor in Brittany).

In Breton, ʺkerʺ means a village, so it is a village of Mary, a village dedicated to the Virgin Mary - in various variations it is a relatively widespread name in Brittany (Kermaria, Locmariaquer, etc ..)

The Kermaria Chapel, together with the Church of Kernascléden (Morbihan), is the only sacral building in Brittany, which has a fresco representing this theme of the "Ghostly Art" of the Middle Ages - Dance of Death. The fresco with 47 figures about 1.3 meters high was covered by painted in the eighteenth century. It was rediscovered in 1856 by Charles de Taillart. The origin of the fresco dates from 1488 to 1501. The chapel itself dates back to the 13th century and contains interesting statues of saints.

Danse Macabre - Dance of Death

The fresco Dance of Death in the Chapel shows the various figures of all social strata (king, pope, priest, peasant, emperor, magnate, craftsman, nobleman, beautiful woman and child, simply rich and poor people from all walks of life) leads Ankou (the embodiment of death). During this dance everyone is equal, everything is directed by Ankou - Death. This kind of ʺmemento moriʺ was meant to remind people that they were mortal and that earthly positions meant little in the long run. Similar depictions were quite popular in the Middle Ages.