Three Lucchese saints Sts Nicholas Tolentino, Nicholas of Bari and Roch interceding with the Virgin on behalf of the victims of the plague 1650 - 1700

This drawing presents three Lucchese saints beseeching the Virgin Mary to aid plague victims. The saints Nicholas of Tolentino and Nicholas of Bari, identifiable by their ecclesiastical garb, stand as solemn intercessors. Note the repetition of the figure of the intercessor across cultures: one hand raised in supplication, a posture echoing ancient Roman orators and deities alike. This gesture, laden with hope and desperation, transcends epochs, resurfacing in countless votive images from antiquity to the present. The motif of plague saints intervening before the Virgin isn’t static; it’s a palimpsest. The collective dread of pestilence, etched into the cultural psyche, finds new expression with each outbreak, each rendition of this scene, and echoes in our own subconscious fears. The emotional resonance of suffering, mediated through saints, is a recurring theme, ever adapting in the face of human vulnerability.