2026-05-19T03:36:18Zhttps://keep.lib.asu.edu/oai/request

oai:keep.lib.asu.edu:node-2010842025-06-16T22:00:55Zoai_pmh:alloai_pmh:repo_items

201084 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.201084 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 2025-05 28 pages Bolton, Christiana Jakubczak, Laura Giner, Oscar Barrett, The Honors College School of Human Evolution & Social Change Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch This thesis project aimed to look into how the Bubonic Plague or Black Death may have affected art within Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. More specifically looking into the ways that they coped religiously with the quick and seemingly random nature of the disease. This is looked into by first establishing what the Bubonic Plague was and the sheer damage it caused, then explaining how the people of the time, when faced with extreme religious anxieties, took various measures to solace and comfort during such a stressful period. This comfort comes in translating their usual traditions into a more accessible form of artwork and protection from dedicated saints. The most popular ones included the Saints Sebastian and Roch as well as some minor depictions of Saint Nicholas, the Virgin Mary, and Christ himself. They are all seen acting in a similar hierarchy to those established within the Catholic church of the time. However, this one is a more direct hierarchy to God and is a hopeful method for salvation against the disease. These trends within the artwork of Italy in response to the Bubonic Plague help to show how the anxieties of religion can act in ways even to overpower the immediate fear of death and, in some ways, then act as a method of reassurance during a time of crisis. Black Death Bubonic Plague Italy Painting St. Sebastian St. Nicholas Virgin Mary St. Roch Art Religion Italy and the Black Death's effect on Religious Painting