ABSTRACT
The source of inspiration for Franz Liszt’s Totentanz has been a controversial issue for well over a century. In 1865 the first published discussions of the piece proclaimed the art of Hans Holbein the Younger as its stimulus. But this attribution was cast aside when Liszt’s biographer, Lina Ramann, named Orcagna’s ‘Trionfo della Morte’ fresco as the sole inspiration for Totentanz. Liszt referred to both artworks in his letters and diaries, giving what has previously been interpreted as contradictory information, and his friends and colleagues told conflicting stories concerning Liszt’s inspiration for the piece. Until now, this apparent discrepancy has prompted scholars to choose between Holbein and Orcagna when discussing the origins of Totentanz. But I argue that the artworks of both Holbein and Orcagna influenced the creation of the composition. Indeed, the various first-hand accounts of the work’s visual influences are not contradictory, but rather valuable chronological links that reveal the intellectual evolution of Liszt’s compositional process.
