Robert Budzinski, with his 1924 wordless novel, Totentanz, and his revised version in 1948, Der Sieg des Lebens, may be the only artist in the last 500 years to depict a human defeating the Grim Reaper. The traditional Totentanz/Danse Macabre/Dance of Death inevitably ends with Death taking his victim. In this wordless story, Death approaches a young woman for a dance but ends with the Maiden turning the skeleton into a pile of bones.

In Budzinski's, Totentanz, the Maiden stands triumphantly after reducing the Grim Reaper to a disjointed pile of bones.
In Budzinski’s, Totentanz, the Maiden
stands triumphantly after reducing the
Grim Reaper to a disjointed pile of bones.

Robert Budzinski (born April 5, 1874 in Klein Schläfken in the district of Neidenburg; died February 27, 1955 in Marburg) was a German painter, graphic artist and author. He mastered all graphic techniques: lithography, woodcut, etching, drypoint, and linocut.

Budzinski's lithographic self portrait circa 1929.
Budzinski’s lithographic
self portrait circa 1929.
Photo credit: Wikipedia

Budzinski did two versions of this wordless story:

1924 Totentanz (Dance of Death)

1948 Der Sieg des Lebens (Auch ein Totentanz) – The Victory Of Life (Also A Dance Of Death)

NOTE: I would like to thank Witold Olbryś, a collector of Robert Budzinski’s works, for his insights as well as for his photos.