How the Black Death Affected European Painters and Art

Gilles li Muisit Chronicles 1340s
Citizens of Tournai Belgium
Burying the Dead During the Black
 Death of 1347 - 52

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Thousands of painters perished, including the great Sienese geniuses, Ambrogio Lorenzetti andPietro Lorenzetti. The heart of the art world was torn open.  The horrors of the black death pervaded all aspects of Gothic 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 bleak and disturbing ways for decades to follow. The Apocalypse, hell, Satan and the Grim Reaper became popular subject matter.

 

Giacomo Borlone de Burchis The Dance of Death

Giacomo Borlone de Burchis The Triumph of Death with the Dance of Death15th century, Oratorio dei Disciplini in Clusone, Italy

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 townships to the match  and massacring the local peasants.  Without the constant fear of invasion, art and architecture found fertile ground to grow. Gothic 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.

 

Gilles li Muisit 1340s People carrying coffins who died during the Black Death