Plague in Venice

• PHOTOS

Plague epidemics spread across the lagoon numerous times over the course of the Venetian Republic and the feast days still celebrated today based on the ends of these plagues are just one example of their cultural impact. Our scholar will lead a fascinating discussion of the role of the plague in Renaissance Venice during the course of our time together. A reality of life for hundreds of years, the effects of the plague on Venice will be examined from a social, historical, and art historical perspective.

During the course of our lecture we will touch on several themes, such as the early thought that a plague was punishment for sin, the lack of understanding by the early medical community, and the practical ways in which the State reacted to these outbreaks that sometimes killed a third of the population.

The focus of this walk will also lead us to view some of the many architectural and artistic monuments commissioned in veneration of plague saints or for the celebration of the end

Plague epidemics spread across the lagoon numerous times over the course of the Venetian Republic and the feast days still celebrated today based on the ends of these plagues are just one example of their cultural impact. Our scholar will lead a fascinating discussion of the role of the plague in Renaissance Venice during the course of our time together. A reality of life for hundreds of years, the effects of the plague on Venice will be examined from a social, historical, and art historical perspective.

During the course of our lecture we will touch on several themes, such as the early thought that a plague was punishment for sin, the lack of understanding by the early medical community, and the practical ways in which the State reacted to these outbreaks that sometimes killed a third of the population.

The focus of this walk will also lead us to view some of the many architectural and artistic monuments commissioned in veneration of plague saints or for the celebration of the end of a plague. In this way we can see how some of the most well-known Venetian artists, such as Titian and Veronese, and monuments, such as the Salute church, are involved in the cult of the plague.