Painting in Italy in a Time of Plague

WORCESTER, MASS.

:The Worcester Art Museum, in partnership with Clark University and the College of the Holy Cross, will present the first major exhibition outside of Europe to explore art's role during the plague.

"Hope and Healing: Painting in Italy in a Time of Plague, 1500-1800," on view at the Worcester Art Museum April 3 to September 25, comprises 37 works by baroque masters who worked in Italy in the midst of plague.

Thirty museums and private collectors, here and abroad, have lent works to this landmark exhibition. The greatest artists of the time, including Tintoretto, Van Dyck, Canaletto, Mignard and Sweerts, are represented.

For centuries, the bubonic plague stuck Europe with unpredictable and disastrous frequency. With busy international ports, Italy, in particular, suffered wave after wave of plague outbreaks from the mid-Fourteenth to the early Eighteenth Century. The theocratic society of early modern Italy believed plague was both caused and cured by God and the church mandated penitential measures, such as fasting, processions, charity and prayer to heavenly intercessors, to end the scourge.

Art of the time served to remind viewers of spiritual remedies for the plague. Devotional paintings provided a focus for personal reflection and prayer. Painted allegories of charitable works offered a model for action. Banners and large-scale altarpieces functioned to plead for God's mercy or to thank God from releasing them from plague.

Subjects of the paintings range from grim portrayals of corpses wrapped in shrouds to inspiring images of charity. Sweeping views of Venice are contrasted with intimate scenes of caring for the sick. Even those at a fashionable dinner party are touched by the plague.

Angelo Caroselli's "Plague at Ashdod," a key work in the exhibition, is a copy after Poussin's painting of the same theme, but it is more than a mere copy. Caroselli's painting was commissioned in 1630 by the Sicilian art collector Fabrizio Valguarnera while Poussin's version, also commissioned by Valguarnera, was still underway. This painting is considered one of Carselli's finest works and it is one of the most distinguished reminders of the plague of 1630 in Rome. The work is on loan from the National Gallery, London.

From the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's "Saint Thecla Praying for the Plague-Stricken" also commemorates the plague of 1630, one of the most virulent outbreaks in early modern Italy. In Tiepolo's modello, Saint Thecla intercedes on behalf of the town of Este, depicted in the background.

The exhibition also features Bernardo Strozzi's full-length modello for an altarpiece in Venice, from 1631-1636, depicting Saint Sebastian. Divided in two fragments centuries ago, the painting was recently reunited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The painting both glorifies the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian and promotes charity through the good work of Saint Irene and her maid, who tend to his wounds.

"Hope and Healing: Painting in Italy in a Time of Plaque, 1500-1800" is curated by a multidisciplinary team of scholars: Gauvin Alexander Bailey, associate professor of art history at Clark University; Pamela M. Jones, associate professor of art history at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; Franco Mormando, associate professor of Italian studies at Boston College; and Thomas Worcester, associate professor of history at College of the Holy Cross.

A series of lectures and gallery talks, "Hope and Healing in Context," explores the historical, art historical, religious and medical aspects of plague. Public, guided tours are offered in April and May. For information, 508-799-4406 or www.worcesterart.org.

Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm, Thursday, 11 am to 8 pm, and Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm. Admission is $8. The museum is at 55 Salisbury Street.