Death personified lays violent claim to a plague victim in this grim manuscript illustration from the 14th-century. Devastating epidemics of diseases commonly known as plague swept through Europe starting in the Byzantine era, killing tens and even hundreds of thousands quickly and painfully. The plague’s cause and transmission remained a frightening mystery until the late 1800s, although speculation ranged from foul air from the Earth’s core to divine punishment for the sins of humankind.
Werner Forman Archive, University Library, Prague/Art Resource, NY
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