Secondary sourcePainting1901
Pesta Plate 1 from Svartedauen
Theodor Kittelsen · 1901
A dark drawing by Theodor Kittelsen from his 1901 book 'Svartedauen' (The Black Death), showing a dying figure in a forest at dusk.
A 1901 artistic imagining of the Black Death, showing how the pandemic was remembered generations later.
About this source
What it is
This is one plate from Svartedauen (The Black Death), a 1901 illustrated book by the Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen. The image shows a forest path at dusk, with a person lying on the ground and a pale ghostly shape rising above them while birds fly overhead.
Why it matters
Kittelsen made this book centuries after the Black Death swept through Europe, drawing on Norwegian folk memory and legend about the plague. It shows how later generations imagined and remembered the disease, turning it into a ghostly, personified force rather than simply a sickness.
Look closer
- What mood does the dark, hatched style create?
- Why might the artist have chosen to show a ghostly shape rather than realistic illness?
- What does this image tell us about how people remembered the plague long after it happened?
This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of The Black Death on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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