CAMPS LABS: Plague, Prayer, and Print in Sixteenth-century Italy

Plague, Prayer, and Print in Sixteenth-century Italy

Katherine Tycz (Discipline of Italian)

Plague was a constant fear for early modern Italians. When plague broke out in Italy, people turned to a variety of devotional tools and practices for protection from disease and spiritual solace. In this presentation, I will explore the production of printed devotional texts and images that were circulated to help devotees through these difficult times. Ranging from beautiful engravings to cheap devotional pamphlets and flyers, the threat of plague created prophylactic merchandise that would appeal to a range of consumers. Occasionally sanctioned by the Church, but often produced outside of the bounds of ecclesiastical oversight, printed plague protection ranged from the orthodox to the unorthodox and all the blurry areas in between.

Centre for Antique, Medieval & Pre-Modern Studies (CAMPS) website: https://www.universityofgalway.ie/camps/