44.--Dancing angels. From a "Nativity" by Sandro
Botticelli _circa_ 1500 A.D.] [Illustration: Fig. 45.--Albert Duerer,
1514 A.D.]
[Illustration: Fig. 46.--Albert Duerer.]
Allusion has already been made to the beautiful paintings of
Botticelli and Fra Angelico, which tell us of Italian choral dances of
their period; these do not belong to social functions, but are
certainly illustrative of the custom of their day. Albert Duerer (figs.
45, 46) has given us illustrations of the field dances of his period,
but both these dances and those drawn by Sebald Beham (fig. 47) are
coarse, and contrast unfavourably with the Italian, although the
action is vigorous and robust.
[Illustration: Fig. 47.--Scenes from dances. German, dated 1546, by
Hans Sebald Beham.] The military dance of Dames and Knights of
Armour, by Hans Burgkmair, on the other hand, appears stately and
dignified (fig. 48). This may illustrate the difference between
chamber and garden or field dancing.
[Illustration: Fig. 48.--A torchlight military dance of the early 16th
century.
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