To What Extent Did Black Death Change Medieval Society Through Development In Medicine And The Arts

To what extent did the Black Death change medieval society through development in medicine and the arts?

The Black Death was a devastating pandemic to live through. From an estimated third of Europe perishing to death being centralised in all forms of the arts, it changed Europe forever. To a moderate extent, the Black Death changed the 14th century medieval society through development in medicine and the arts. During the 14th century, medicine was heavily experimental with some success in stopping the spread and the arts were often based on the theme of death and grieving.

During the Black Death, medicine was heavily experimental, with a handful of successful ways to prevent the spread of the plague. “Since no one knew what caused the disease,

The image “Bring Out Your Dead” depicts a town square that is sparsely populated with words on the houses and a massive fire in the centre. (Evans, 1655) This painting portrays how the plague hit the town and killed many people. This could be supported by the writings on the houses that identified whether the people in those houses had died or not. The dark coloured scheme of the painting and the title of the artwork also creates the feeling of mourning. Similar style can be seen in the painting: A man with a torch walking alongside a cart of plague victims; a woman is holding a dead child. by E.M. Ward which also depicts the same dark colour scheme and melancholic themes. Another painter also includes Hans Holbein, who was noted for Der Artzet, which while is only in black and white, also depicts death as a skeleton taunting a physian. In contrast, at 1311, 35 years before the Black Death, the painting Maestas was created by painter Duccio. This depicts a church orientated ideas of youth and holiness in its paintings, with a lighter colour scheme (Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1311). This painting suggests that as the church was heavily in power, numerous artworks were oriented around the views from the church. When corroborated with the first source, this highlights a major difference in the way the art was made as the first source (from the Black Death Pandemic) saw dark colours and gruesome topics while the second (from the medieval) saw lighter colours and a highlight on the church. Therefore, during the black death, the arts were often centralised on the theme of death as the plague caused many to perish. In conclusion, to a moderate extent did the Black Death change the 14th century medieval society through development in medicine and the arts. Medicine was heavily experimented on, with some prevailing for ways to stop the spread, and the arts were