PLAGUE AND ART IN LATE MEDIEVAL AND EARLY RENAISSANCE ITALY

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of the plague of 1348, also known the Black Death, and the waves of epidemics that ravaged the Italian communes throughout the 14th and 15th century on the Medieval and Early Renaissance art, to trace the post-epidemic construction of burial chapels and the stylistic and thematic changes in the art of painting, and to evaluate the current transformation within the framework of the social, cultural and psychological effects of the plague. The Black Death inflicted deep economic, social and psychological wounds, in both the short and long term, on Italian communities already in turmoil in the 1340s as a result of famine, infectious diseases, economic crisis and Milan’s expansionist policies. In the 15th century, when the cities were still shaken by waves of epidemics, they looked to religion for salvation and support, and it was during this period that certain saints, some of them local, gained prominence. The fear of sudden death and oblivion, which were the psychological consequences of the epidemic, manifested itself artistically in the construction and decoration of burial chapels from the second half of the 14th century to the 15th century. As a result of the donations made by devotees, new burial chapels were built in churches, old ones were renovated, some decorative ritual objects were donated to these places, and artists received many commissions for altar panels and frescoes. In painting, instead of directly depicting physical pain, artists aimed to remind us of the existence of celestial healing. Henceforth, they reinterpreted certain types of representations in the context of consoling and giving a glimmer of hope, based on the holy figures that devotees imagined as their intercessors in Heaven in defense against the plague. Plague saints such as St Sebastian and St Roch and representations of Mary as Madonna della Misericordia can be given as examples. All these images echoed devotees’ pursuit of healing which they hoped would come from God and the saints, offered consolation and hope in times of despair, and served as a tool for Renaissance man to change present conditions to his advantage.