Assignment 1; How did the plague affect artistic production in the 14th century Italy?

The plague affected the lives and the dramatic change in art for the 14 Century. With the plague hitting Italy and reducing the population dramatically it affected the production of art. Since Italy created an international trade it was easy to see how 50-60% of Italy's population decreased. With everyone living so close to each other it became harder to survive. With the result of people calling the plague the "BLACK DEATH"(because of how it made black patches on the skin) it became a topic/subject for art in the 14 Century. The plague stimulated religion back into many homes in Italy. Many artist painted religious portraits and people were more reliable on their churches than ever. People relied on the Church for help. Even though many people didn't have much money they would give some back to the church hoping that all of this madness would come to an end. During these times there were no hospitals and the Churches became the beginning of that. Churches were filled with people dieing and the staff learning how to help them. More of how life was during those times became more apart of paintings. More expressions on the faces became more dramatic and noticeable in artwork. Even though some artist were already curious in the natural world(making scenes in 3D) the plague brought up a real shock. Seeing this reality on a day to day basis gave the artist something to draw. Many artist realized that death was a major subject and wanted to portray what was going on at the time. Many artist began with painting more religious scenes and slowly leaving medieval techniques behind. Even though a lot of art work was dark and the subject was death these works had so much life in them. From artist trying to correct their work every time and getting better was a change in how many artist worked. Creating emotion in faces, maybe using models, sketching, and playing with the background gave this century a start for what was in store in the future.