1347–1351
The Black Death
In 1347 a terrible plague reached Europe on trading ships and killed perhaps a third of the people in about four years. Villages emptied, and the world changed: workers were suddenly scarce, so they could ask for higher pay. Art filled up with skeletons, dances of death and prayers for mercy.
Why artists painted it
People then had no idea what caused the disease, so artists painted it as a mysterious visitor: Death himself walking among the living. These pictures are reminders of how fragile life seemed.
Dance of Death (Nuremberg Chronicle) · Michael Wolgemut, 1493
The Triumph of Death
Pieter Brueghel the Elder · 1562
🕰️ Painted about 210 years later
An army of skeletons sweeps across a ruined land, killing kings and peasants alike.
Saint Sebastian Interceding for the Plague Victims
Josse Lieferinxe · 1497
🕰️ Painted about 150 years later
People in a plague-struck city pray to Saint Sebastian, who was believed to protect against the disease, while angels and demons hover above.
Dance of Death (Nuremberg Chronicle)
Michael Wolgemut · 1493
🕰️ Painted about 140 years later
Skeletons dance with the living in this woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493.
The Dance of Death: The Emperor
Hans Holbein the Younger · 1538
🕰️ Painted about 190 years later
Death, a skeleton, leads the emperor away from his throne in one of Hans Holbein the Younger's Dance of Death woodcuts.
The Dance of Death: The Cardinal
Hans Holbein the Younger · 1538
🕰️ Painted about 190 years later
A skeleton gently takes a cardinal by the robe in one of Holbein's Dance of Death woodcuts.
Doctor Schnabel of Rome (a plague doctor)
Paul Fürst · 1656
🕰️ Painted about 300 years later
A plague doctor wears a long coat and a mask with a beak that was stuffed with herbs, to try to keep disease away.
Danse Macabre
Bernt Notke · 1490
🕰️ Painted about 140 years later
A long painted frieze shows skeletons leading people of every rank in a dance toward the grave.
The Plague
Arnold Böcklin · 1898
🕰️ Painted about 550 years later
Death, a skeleton on a winged creature, swoops over a plague-stricken city in this chilling painting.
Plague in an Ancient City
Michiel Sweerts · 1652
🕰️ Painted about 300 years later
A terrible illness has struck an ancient city and people are dying in the streets.
Dance of Death at Hrastovlje
John of Kastav · 1490
🕰️ Painted about 140 years later
Skeletons lead a long line of kings, bishops, merchants and peasants toward the grave in this wall painting in a tiny church in Slovenia.
Knight, Death, and the Devil
Albrecht Dürer · 1513
🕰️ Painted about 160 years later
A knight in armor rides calmly through a dark valley while Death with an hourglass and a horned Devil follow behind him.
Death and the Miser
Hieronymus Bosch · 1500
🕰️ Painted about 150 years later
A dying miser lies in bed while Death stands in the doorway and a demon tempts him with a bag of money.
Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle
Arnold Böcklin · 1872
🕰️ Painted about 520 years later
The painter pauses at his easel, as a skeleton with a one-stringed fiddle whispers in his ear.
Christ Appointing Saint Roch as Patron Saint of Plague Victims
Peter Paul Rubens · 1619
🕰️ Painted about 270 years later
Christ appoints Saint Roch as the protector of plague victims, a saint who was believed to have cared for the sick during an epidemic.