Sterfte door ziekte en pest onder de Leidenaren, 1574 1614 - 1699

This engraving, “Sterfte door ziekte en pest onder de Leidenaren, 1574,” whose maker is unknown, depicts the ravages of disease and pestilence among the people of Leiden in 1574. The image serves as a stark visual record of a society gripped by crisis, reflecting the broader historical context of the time. The scene unfolds within a framed composition, where the daily realities of sickness and death are laid bare. Emaciated figures populate the foreground, their bodies rendered vulnerable. The anonymous artist doesn't shy away from representing the physical toll of the plague. The emotional weight of the scene is amplified by the presence of family members tending to the sick and mourning the dead. The figures are of different class status, as seen in their clothing, suggesting that no one was immune to the epidemic. The image asks us to consider the precarity of life and the communal bonds that emerge in the face of widespread suffering.