Page 55 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(1) (2025)

of the transmission of the disease and that they This theory about the transmission of dis-
took simple self-protective measures. That the eases through the air, which dates back to antiq-
stench must have been unbearable can also be uity, was well known among the people, which is
inferred from other details of the scene, such as why the painter depicted it as protecting the res-
the green grass, bright green trees in the back- piratory tract with a handkerchief.
ground, and the bare-footed men with rolled- Based on the painting, which shows a
up sleeves carrying away the corpses, from plague scene, we can analyse the symptoms de-
which we can conclude that the painter has de- picted to determine the probable nature of the
picted an epidemic tragedy in warm weather, plague. What we can observe in this artwork
such as late spring, summer or early autumn. is that several plague victims are being cared
The woman in the picture holding a handker- for or carried away. Most importantly, howev-
chief to her nose indicates not only protection er, there are no visible buboes (swollen lymph
against stench, but also an understanding of the nodes) nor dark skin lesions (plague spots), the 55
concept of miasma. victims appear to be lying down or being car-
This scene reflects the contemporary un- ried and the scene suggests acute onset and
derstanding of disease transmission, which was high mortality.
based on the miasma theory. In this context, it Given the absence of the buboes typical of
is interesting to mention Marko Anton Plenčič bubonic plague and the apparently rapid pro-
(1705–1786), a Slovenian doctor who studied gression suggested by the scene, it is probably
medicine in Padua and worked at the Faculty of pneumonic plague. Pneumonic plague is trans-
Medicine in Vienna, who was firmly convinced mitted directly from person to person through Sensory Representations of Plague
that all infectious diseases were caused by living respiratory droplets, has an acute onset, has an
pathogens. In 1762, his first book was published extremely high mortality rate if untreated, does
6
under the title Opera medico physica. Plenčič’s not produce the characteristic buboes of bubon-
practical experience in treating patients with in- ic plague, and the primary symptoms are res-
fectious diseases and the influence of his pro- piratory/pulmonary rather than visible external
fessor, Carlo Cogrosi, who had written a book manifestations.
on contagious diseases in cattle in 1714, made Since the first symptoms of pneumonic
him realise that his ideas were correct. Plenčič plague (European Centre for Disease Prevention
carried out experiments with variolisation and and Control n.d.) appear 1 to 3 days after infec-
proved that variola was caused by a specific path- tion, with chest pain, production of thick mucus
ogen. He was also convinced that the scarlet fe- in the lungs, shortness of breath and death with-
ver infection was caused by airborne germs that in 24 hours, it is possible that the woman in the
entered the body through the skin or respiratory painting is covering her airways with a handker-
organs. Plenčič applied his idea of specific path- chief because she is even the slightest bit aware of
ogens of infectious diseases to veterinary med- the disease, since this form of plague was trans-
icine, agriculture and the economy. One hun- mitted by droplets. It could be a sign of her fear
dred years before Pasteur, Plenčič explained the of infection and her desire to protect herself and
causes of infection with contagious diseases in others during the epidemic. The painting ap-
humans, animals and plants and described the pears to depict the horrific reality of caring for
characteristics of disease agents (Stropnik 1998, and disposing of victims during an outbreak of
153–156). pneumonic plague.

6 Full title: Opera medico physica, in quatuor tractatus digesta, quorum primus contagii morborum ideam novam una cum addita-
mento de lue bovina, anno 1761. epidemice grassante sistit. Secundus de variolis, tertius de scarlatina, quartus de terræ motu, sed
præcipue illo horribili agit, qui prima novembris anno 1755. Europam, Africam, et Americam conquassabat. The book was translat-
ed into Slovenian in 1998 under the title O bolezenskem kontagiju: nova ideja.