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The Effect of Black Death on Art and Artists in the Medieval Period
How the Black Death
Affected
Painters and Art in
the Medieval Age
Thousands of
other painters perished, including the great Sienese geniuses,
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
and
Pietro Lorenzetti.
The heart of the art world was torn open. The horrors of the
black death pervaded all aspects of Medieval culture and especially art.
The effects were lasting, bringing a somber darkness to visual art,
literature, and music. The dreadful trauma of this era instigated the
imaginations of writers and painters in worrying and unsettling ways
for decades to follow. The insecurity of daily survival created a
atmosphere of gloom and doom influencing artist to move away from
optimistic themes and turn to images of Hell, Satan and the Grim
Reaper.
When
the plague struck, Europe was emerging from the "dark ages"
trying to put unpleasant memories behind it and move on to a more
enlightened era. Barbarians no longer ran rough shod, putting entire
villages to the torch and slaughtering the local peasants.
Without the constant fear of invasion, art and architecture found
fertile ground to grow. Medieval painters were not simply anonymous
lowly craftsmen, but well respected professionals. They were held in
high esteem and often interacted with clergy and wealthy patrons.
The arrival of Black death harkened in a new darker era of painting.
Paintings were overflowing with tortured souls, death, dying, fire and
brimstone.
What was the Plague?
Bubonic plague is a
bacillus, an organism,
most often carried by
infested rats who were
plague-ridden with
fleas. The infected
fleas, seeking a new
blood meal jumped off
their rodent hosts and
leapt onto a human,
biting their new victim
causing infection.
Symptoms of the Plague
Symptoms include
swelling of the lymph
nodes, high fevers,
large blackish pustules
that soon burst and ooze
a foul liquid, aching
limbs, and vomiting of
blood. Finally the
victim became an
unrecognizable,
grotesque monster. The
died by the millions,
alone in agony, their
kinsmen fleeing in
terror. Government
and Clergy tried to control the
catastrophe, but the
disease progressed
relentlessly, eventually
wiping out 80 million
people.
Preventing the Plague
Many believed that the
disease was spread upon
the air, So, the
survivors turned to
incense, fragrant oils
and perfumes to ward off
the deadly vapors that
they believed to be
causing the infection.
With so many bodies
piling up, if nothing
else the air smelled a
bit better. Towns rang
church bells and held
parades where all the
citizens paraded through
the streets banging pots
and pans to drive the
plague away. Gypsies,
Jews, foreign travelers,
and lepers were hunted
down and killed as they
were believed to be the
carriers of the disease.
Medieval entrepreneurs
made a fortune selling
talismans, lucky charms
and enchantments.
Peasants who could not
afford such luxuries
simply wore a necklace
of garlic around their
necks or crushed herbs
in their pockets. People
were frantic for a
remedy and would try
anything, no matter how
peculiar or bizarre.
Life in the Medieval
Period
In the Medieval period,
people concentrated
mainly on the church,
God, and personal
salvation. Life in Medieval
Europe was primitive and
far more difficult than
that of Imperial Rome. The
Average life expectancy
was only 30.
Christianity
provided an ethical
element lacking in previous cultures.
A Medieval Song about
the Plague
"A
sickly season," the
merchant said,
"The town I left was
filled with dead,
and everywhere these
queer red flies
crawled upon the
corpses' eyes,
eating them away."
"Fair make you sick,"
the merchant said,
"They crawled upon the
wine and bread.
Pale priests with oil
and books,
bulging eyes and crazy
looks,
dropping like the
flies."
"I had to laugh," the
merchant said,
"The doctors purged, and
dosed, and bled;
"And proved through
solemn disputation
"The cause lay in some
constellation.
"Then they began to
die."
"First they sneezed,"
the merchant said,
"And then they turned
the brightest red,
Begged for water, then
fell back.
With bulging eyes and
face turned black,
they waited for the
flies."
"I came away," the
merchant said,
"You can't do business
with the dead.
"So I've come here to
ply my trade.
"You'll find this to be
a fine brocade..."
And then he sneezed.
Major Medieval Painters
Hieronymus Bosch
Matthias
Grünewald
Albrecht
Dürer
Lucas
Cranach
Hans Holbein
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