The Morbetto, or Plague in Crete, designed by Raphael and engraved by Marcantonio
Raimondi, juxtaposes the pestilence described in Virgils Aeneid with the ruinous
state of Romes ancient remains in the Renaissance. This article examines this
exceptional collaboration between the artist and engraver in light of early
modern medical knowledge of contagion and an emerging discourse on the
preservation of Roman ruins. It argues that the tonal properties of engraving
and reproducible nature of print are integral to the meaning of the Morbetto, an
image in which new artistic creation arises from a cultural landscape dominated
by the fragmentary heritage of the past.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.