Die Pest von Aschdod

Poussin painted this in Rome around 1630, while plague was tearing through northern Italy. Tens of thousands were dying in Milan and Venice. Rome itself was spared, but the dread was everywhere, and it shows in how closely he studied the bodies here. The subject comes from the Book of Samuel, the Philistine city of Ashdod struck down after seizing the Ark of the Covenant, the dead and dying sprawled in the street while people press cloth to their mouths against the stench. The canvas was bought by a Sicilian dealer named Fabrizio Valguarnera, who was soon on trial for laundering stolen jewels through art purchases. In the middle distance a mother lies dead with her infant still trying to nurse at her, a motif Poussin took from an ancient written account of plague.