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Secondary sourcePaintingc. 1411-1416

The Procession of Saint Gregory

Limbourg brothers · c. 1411-1416

An illuminated manuscript miniature showing the legendary Roman plague procession of 590, painted for a French duke's prayer book.

This miniature depicts a plague procession used as a model for later responses to the Black Death's recurring outbreaks.

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Illuminated manuscript page: a text column in Latin on the left-center, with a procession on the right. Red-robed cardinals kneel and pray on a brick street, a figure in gold vestments raises arms, and a golden reliquary is carried. On the left, a crowd of townspeople gathers at a city gate, some figures lying on the ground. An angel with wings sheathes a sword atop a tall tower under a blue sky.
Limbourg brothers, The Procession of Saint Gregory, Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, c. 1411-1416. Musée Condé, Chantilly.

About this source

What it is

This miniature is part of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, painted by the Limbourg brothers around 1411-1416. It is held today at the Musée Condé in Chantilly. The scene shows Pope Gregory leading a procession through plague-stricken Rome, with an angel sheathing a sword above a tower to signal the epidemic's end.

Why it matters

The image recalls a legendary Roman plague of the year 590, but it was painted at a time when outbreaks of the Black Death kept returning across Europe. Collective penance and religious processions like this one were repeatedly used by people during later outbreaks, so the picture reveals how medieval society responded to disease with prayer and public ritual rather than medicine.

Look closer

  • What does the collapsed figure on the ground tell you about how the artists chose to show suffering?
  • Why might a duke want this scene in his personal prayer book?
  • What does the angel sheathing its sword suggest about how people explained the end of plagues?

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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