Medieval Death in Art
Why were churches covered with explicit images of Purgatory, Judgment Day, and Hell? How did normal people live with a gruesome death as a very real possibility every day? What was the point of digging up thousands of skeletons and arranging them into massive murals? We will look at the fascinating and macabre works of European art in the aftermath of the Black Death, a mysterious disease that killed a third of Europe. No previous knowledge of art, history, or religion required.
Amy Slowik graduated from the University of Chicago's Program in the Humanities with a Master of Art degree in medieval art history and from DePauw University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history and English literature. Currently a librarian with the San Diego Public Library, she has also worked as an Assistant Professor at Western Kentucky University libraries and as Head Librarian at Morristown-Beard School in New Jersey.