Confronting Contagion

“I abstract this disease I have in the same way you abstract death. Sometimes I don’t think about this disease for hours. This process lets me get work done, and work gives me life, or at least makes sense of living for short periods of time.”

—David Wojnarowicz, “Postcards from America:

X-Rays from Hell” (1989)

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Chak Chel (Great Rainbow)
Chak Chel (Great Rainbow), A.D. 800–1000
Late Classic
Maya
Uk'ib with Wahy Figures
Uk'ib with Wahy Figures, ca. 755 CE
Late Classic
Maya
Historia de la Curación de Antigua de San Pablito Pahuatlan Pue
Historia de la Curación de Antigua de San Pablito Pahuatlan Pue, 1975
Saint Sebastian
Saint Sebastian, ca. 1500–1510
Ein Kurtz Regiment wie sich zu Zeiten der Pestilentz zu halten sey.
Ein Kurtz Regiment wie sich zu Zeiten der Pestilentz zu halten sey., Nuremberg: printed 1533
A Journal of the Plague Year
A Journal of the Plague Year, London: (first published 1722) 1835
Venice supplicating the Virgin Mary to intercede with Christ for the Cessation of the Plague
Venice supplicating the Virgin Mary to intercede with Christ for the Cessation of the Plague, 1630–31
The Monatti, illustration to Alessandro Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi
The Monatti, illustration to Alessandro Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi, ca. 1895–99
The Pestilence of 1656
The Pestilence of 1656,
Healing scroll (ma’ero qumät, tälsäm, or yä branna ketab)
Healing scroll (ma’ero qumät, tälsäm, or yä branna ketab), ca. 1770-1830
The Greenwich Boat Club
The Greenwich Boat Club, 1833
Cholera consultation – The Central Board of Health
Cholera consultation – The Central Board of Health, 1832