Not surprisingly, a general existential pessimism permeated post-Black Death Europe, and this pessimism was nowhere better expressed than in art. While pre-plague art had a tendency to be optimistic and to celebrate life - particularly in the revolutionary painting of Giotto - post-plague art had a tendency to be obsessed with pain, suffering and images of death. The style of post-plague art also moved away from naturalizing and humanizing qualities towards a new emphasis on supernatural mysticism. This video lecture will examine the art produced in Italy in the immediate wake of the Black Death in order to determine whether a post-Black Death style of art actually existed.