This exhibition examines the Italian Renaissance’s rise, specifically the Sienese painters’ ascent. During this artistic growth, Europe’s ‘Black Death’ raged from 1347 to 52. In 1347, it was understood that a plague was present in the East. It is understood that the Black Death was brought to Crimea from Asia Minor. Genoese traders brought the plague from Constantinople to Sicily. By 1348, it was in multiple European countries. Europeans called it ‘the pestilence,’ and we call it the Black Death, perhaps due to the black spots.
When you go see the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, you don’t necessarily know if the pestilence is represented because works are dated earlier. Still, we do understand from the incredible jewel-like portable paintings that some people believed the plague was a punishment of God for their sins. (most societal ills were considered a sin). These works were mainly devotional, and the Cardinals even processed certain pieces. The small-scale paintings and carved ivories were portable and protected while traveling. At this time, people did turn to patron saints and were devoted; there were even processions in Siena of flagellants whipping themselves with nail-embedded straps. The Black Plague killed a quarter of the population in Europe.
The exceptional beauty and bright colors of the paintings do not necessarily represent this plague’s history but more how the plague was dealt with by a devotional and religious society.
Learn more about the exhibition here:
Interesting lectures by local scholars.
Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300-1350,
October 13- January 26, 2025.
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