Description:
A vertical image with (at top center) God, as the Eternal Judge, looking down from Heaven. On his left is the Pietà and on his right, Saints Sebastian and Roch. At center bottom, on Earth, Death is seated on a stretcher holding a scythe. To his left a monk gives last rights to a dying person in bed. To his right, a bishop and another monk kneel in prayer near two dead bodies wrapped in grave clothes.
Label Text:
This cover page of a 15th-century medical treatise illustrates medieval scientific beliefs about the plague, which was thought to travel by cloud. Jesus sits atop a garland of clouds; below, on earth, death reigns supreme as humans succumb to sickness. To the right and below Christ is Saint Roch, who survived the plague and is recognizable by the bubo on his thigh. He is joined by Saint Sebastian and together they serve as intercessors between God and the diseased, seeking mercy for the sick. In the late 15th century, the church controlled all printed images, and though many of the afflicted were actually losing faith, Christ is depicted as a kind healer.
-Kristina Bush ’17, Student Guide, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (Dec. 2016)
Tags:
Christianity; biblical; deaths; praying Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+2012.34.3 |
