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Black death impact on western civilization
Literary devices in the plague
How was culture affected by the black death
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Alongside troubled religious faith, the European culture was devastated. With the widespread of unexpected death, the people realized there was no escape. Art and literature in the following years illustrated this mindset by showing its mournful influence. Artists dealt with the devastation by creating pieces of work featuring a new dark genre Paintings and drawings during this period featured symbols of death, fire, and tortured souls (The Effect of the Black Death on Medieval Artists and Art,2011). Along with the art, literature written during this period portrayed how terrified people were of catching the plague (Beaumont, 2011). The majority of the literature developed during this period did not mention the plague in the writing, but rather
The Black Death was a dark period of human history, approximately 60% of European died. Black Death also known as the bubonic plague, it happened during 1346-1353. The plague spread during the crusades along the ships, and it was originated from a mice from Asia. It is a irremediable disease. The plague made so many negative influence on society, as well as positive effects on human population, such as social, medical and economical effects.
Kleiner, Fred, Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History, Fourteenth Edition The Middle Ages, Book B (Boston: Wadsworth, 2013), 348.
Because the medical knowledge at the time of the Black Death was based on inaccurate observation and undue credence given to the heavenly bodies and divine will, the plague waged rampantly throughout Europe and was completely undeterred by feeble attempts at solving its medicinal mystery.
The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe The Black Death is the name later given to the epidemic of plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. The disaster affected all aspects of life. Depopulation and shortage of labor hastened changes already inherent in the rural economy; the substitution of wages for labor services was accelerated, and social stratification became less rigid. Psychological morbidity affected the arts; in religion, the lack of educated personnel among the clergy gravely reduced the intellectual vigor of the church.
Ruskin, John. “Grotesque Renaissance.” The Stones of Venice: The Fall. 1853. New York: Garland Publishing, 1979. 112-65. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1989. 21-2.
The object of this book, Early Medieval Art, is to convey the theme “tradition not only receives and transforms, it literally invents a tradition upon which it founded itself” (p. 15) concerning art of the early medieval era. The purpose of this book is to summarize and offer knowledge of medieval art, that will then be included in the greater series of books by other specialists for Oxford University Press. Lawrence Nees accomplished his argument successfully by following the chronological production of the art and the traditions that are imbedded within them. Although, his thesis is strongly supported, Ness’ failure is found in his over reliance on the artwork itself, which then leads to the masking of his personal arguments.
No other epidemic reaches the level of the Black Death which took place from 1348 to 1350. The epidemic, better regarded as a pandemic, shook Europe, Asia, and North Africa; therefore it deems as the one of the most devastating events in world history. In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350, John Aberth, compiles primary sources in order to examine the origins and outcomes of this deadly disease. The author, a history professor and associate academic dean at Vermont’s Castleton State College, specializes in medieval history and the Black Death. He wrote the book in order to provide multiple perspectives of the plague’s impact. Primarily, pathogens started the whole phenomenon; however, geological, economic, and social conditions
Nash, Susan. Oxford History of Art: Norther Renaissance Art. 2nd. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 30-65. eBook.
The Black Death plagues had disastrous consequences for Europe in the 14th century. After the initial outbreak in Europe, 1347, it continued for around five years and then mysteriously disappeared. However it broke out again in the 1360s and every few decades thereafter till around 1700. The European epidemic was an outbreak of the bubonic plague, which began in Asia and spread across trade routes. When it reached Europe, a path of destruction began to emerge. Medieval society was tossed into disarray, economies were fractured, the face of culture and religion changed forever. However the plagues devastation was not all chaotic, there were benefits too, such as modern labour movements, improvements in medicine and a new outlook on life. Therefore in order to analyse the impact the Black Death had on societies in the 14th century, this essay will consider the social, economic, cultural and religious factors in order to reach an overall conclusion.
It was Otto Dix who said “Art is exorcism. I paint dreams and visions too; the dreams and visions of my time. Painting is the effort to produce order; order in yourself. There is much chaos in me, much chaos in our time.” (“The Art Story.org-Your Guide to Modern Art”).
Goldwater, Robert and Marco Treves (Eds.). Artists on Art: from the XIV to the XX Century. New York: Pantheon Books, 1945.
Pieter Bruegel’s The Triumph of Death depicts a hell on earth scenario that many would find difficult to look at. Believed to have been painted around 1592 (Woodward, 2009), Bruegel’s brush strokes illustrate peasants and nobles alike being tortured or killed by an army of skeletons. However the greater detail of this oil on panel painting lays out much of what is considered on one hand a parody of life and on the other an ominous reminder that death and war is inevitable and indiscriminate of social class.
Larmann, R., & Shields, M. (2011). Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe (1400–1750). Gateways to Art (pp. 376-97). New York: W.W. Norton.
Art and literature in the Renaissance out from under the absolute power of the Church, its dogmas and censorship, and begin to reflect on the "eternal themes of life": over the riddles of life and death.
Witcombe, Chris. Art History Resources on the Web. 24 October 1995. Art of the Middle Ages. 17 January 2002.