You asked us: "What great works of art came out of times of plague?” Throughout history, art was part of the social experience especially during times of pandemic. Here are 3 examples: 1. The Florentine Codex, the first encyclopedia of the New World, was written in Mexico City in the middle of the Great Pestilence of 1576 and documents patients suffering from "the great rash." Not only was the codex written during an outbreak, but it also documents the smallpox epidemic that occured in 1520 in the middle of the conquest of Mexico that resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire. 2. This is an illuminated page from a songbook called the Laudario of Sant’Agnese, which was made during the Black Death in 1348. A group in Florence, Italy, commissioned the manuscript, and every evening around 6pm families would gather with their children around the book—with candles in hand—to sing songs of praise. 3. This is a Roman magic amulet from about 1,800 years ago. It's made of agate, a stone associ...