In 1949,Jože Pohlen, a local sculptor, discovered a 400 year old secret hidden behind the plaster walls of a small church in his hometown of Hrastovlje, Slovenia.

A 23ft long fresco depicting Danse Macacbre, or ‘Dance of Death’, painted by John of Kastav in 1490. 

The illustration depicted an incredibly story for it’s time - skeletons, representing death, leading people from every walk of life in a dance to their end. John was incredibly careful to include every ‘class’ of people that existed that day - a child, a disabled person, a pauper, a tax collector, a monk, the Pope, the queen, king and even emperor, all holding the hands of nearly identical skeletons, being led to a grave that is waiting for them.

For it’s time, (and even now, to be honest), this illustration is incredibly meaningful: It does not matter who we are - death comes for us all. What makes this especially relevant now is that you can see death refusing to take a bribe from the tax collector - a symbol that even money will not buy you time.

John of Kastav got it right.

Now as I’ve mentioned before - it’s easy to think of this as morbid or dark, but I hope you see his point : Do not take today for granted. It’s easy to imagine that our stature could help us live indefinitely, but the truth is that all of us will eventually reach a day that becomes our last.

The rest? That’s the dance.

Big Hugs!
Jason