Offered against the backdrop of a pandemic that has taken more than two million lives, this presentation looks at how similar times in the past have been treated in art. We begin with the 14th century and the profoundly religious outlook of those artists who depicted the horrors of the Black Death. This event and its artistic illustrations were seen as warnings of the punishment that could befall sinners and sinful societies. In the centuries that followed, such art acquired a different role. Viewers were encouraged to experience empathy with plague victims, whose sufferings linked them with Christ himself. Emotional strength could help withstand an epidemic and bring solace to suffering victims and societies. In more recent times, artists have sought to reveal how people cope with deadly diseases spreading among them. Contemporary works often wrestle with questions about the fragility of life and priority of sympathetic caregiving.