Wellcome uses cookies.

Read our policy
Skip to main content
139 results
  • Zachariah's cross. A double cross, on one side side Zacharias and his blessing, on the other St. Benedict and the lettering of the cross of St. Benedict. Protection against the plague.
  • A cross with the Trinity, the Virgin, and saints, used to protect against witchcraft, plague, fire, and storms. Etching.
  • Saint Carlo Borromeo carrying the Holy Cross in the plague of Milan. Etching, 1781, after Carlo Cesi or Pietro Berrettini, il Cortona.
  • Four men sitting cross-legged outside a building with bells hanging from the roof: Bombay at the time of the plague. Photograph, 1896/1897.
  • A cross with the Virgin of the Ursulines at Landshut, the wounds of Christ, and saints used against witchcraft, fire, plague, and storms. Etching.
  • A cross with the image of the Virgin of the Ursulines at Landshut, surrounded by saints, used to protect against witchcraft, fire, plague and storms. Etching.
  • The Holy Cross with the image of the Virgin of the Ursulines at Landshut, surrounded by saints, used for protection against witchcraft, fire, plague and storms. Etching.
  • Saint Carlo Borromeo, with a rope around his neck, carrying a cross through the plague-ridden streets of Milan in 1576. Engraving by J. Frey, 1749, after Pietro da Cortona.
  • Saint Carlo Borromeo: with a rope around his neck, he kneels before the Cross in the plague-ridden streets of Milan in 1576. Coloured aquatint by L.A. Garneray, 1820, after Martinet.
  • Two men and a boy sitting cross-legged on the ground surrounded by leaves; their faces are painted white and one of them appears to be smoking a pipe: Bombay at the time of the plague. Photograph, 1896/1897.
  • The Holy Cross, serving as an amulet against plagues, witchcraft etc. Etching on silk.
  • The Holy Cross with the wounds of Christ, serving as an amulet against plagues, witchcraft etc. Woodcut.
  • The Holy Cross with the Virgin and Christ Child, serving as an amulet against plagues, witchcraft etc. Etching.
  • A selection of four lead mortuary crosses, placed on the body of a plague victim, found on the site of the old Grey Friars Monastery, Newgate Street, Lonodn (replicas)
  • A selection of four lead mortuary crosses, placed on the body of a plague victim, found on the site of the old Grey Friars Monastery, Newgate Street, Lonodn (replicas)
  • A selection of four lead mortuary crosses, placed on the body of a plague victim, found on the site of the old Grey Friars Monastery, Newgate Street, Lonodn (replicas)
  • The Holy Cross with the wounds of Christ, serving as an amulet against plagues, witchcraft etc. Woodcut on silk.
  • The Holy Cross with the Virgin and Christ Child, serving as an amulet against plagues and witchcraft etc. Etching.
  • The Holy Cross with Saint Sebastian, Saint Roch and Saint John Nepomuk, serving as an amulet against plagues, witchcraft etc. Coloured woodcut.
  • The Holy Cross, surrounded by Saint Sebastian, Saint Roch, and Saint John Nepomuk, and (above) the appearance of the Trinity; serving as an amulet against plagues, witchcraft etc. Coloured etching.
  • Paris quadrifolia L. Trilliaceae Herb Paris Distribution: Europe and temperate Asia. This dramatic plant was known as Herb Paris or one-berry. Because of the shape of the four leaves, resembling a Burgundian cross or a true love-knot, it was also known as Herb True Love. Prosaically, the name ‘Paris’ stems from the Latin ‘pars’ meaning ‘parts’ referring to the four equal leaves, and not to the French capital or the lover of Helen of Troy. Sixteenth century herbalists such as Fuchs, who calls it Aconitum pardalianches which means leopard’s bane, and Lobel who calls it Solanum tetraphyllum, attributed the poisonous properties of Aconitum to it. The latter, called monkshood and wolfsbane, are well known as poisonous garden plants. Gerard (1633), however, reports that Lobel fed it to animals and it did them no harm, and caused the recovery of a dog poisoned deliberately with arsenic and mercury, while another dog, which did not receive Herb Paris, died. It was recommended thereafter as an antidote to poisons. Coles (1657) wrote 'Herb Paris is exceedingly cold, wherupon it is proved to represse the rage and force of any Poyson, Humour , or Inflammation.' Because of its 'cold' property it was good for swellings of 'the Privy parts' (where presumably hot passions were thought to lie), to heal ulcers, cure poisoning, plague, procure sleep (the berries) and cure colic. Through the concept of the Doctrine of Signatures, the black berry represented an eye, so oil distilled from it was known as Anima oculorum, the soul of the eye, and 'effectual for all the disease of the eye'. Linnaeus (1782) listed it as treating 'Convulsions, Mania, Bubones, Pleurisy, Opththalmia', but modern authors report the berry to be toxic. That one poison acted as an antidote to another was a common, if incorrect, belief in the days of herbal medicine. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • A plague house in Bombay: the wall has been marked with circles. Photograph, 1896/1897.
  • A plague house in Bombay: the wall has been marked with circles. Photograph, 1896/1897.
  • Croce : Li San Zaccaria vescovo di Gerusalemme, al quale facendo orazione a pro quella città devastata della peste, fu inspirato il presente mistero col quale restò placata sua Divina Maestà facendo cessare il sopraccennato castigo.
  • Sospensione di commercio con tutta la Germania : essendo pervenuto all'Illustrissimo Magistrato della Sanità di questa città il bando, publicato da SS. Proveditori alla Sanità di Verona, della Germania da suoi confini in sù ... / Signori Presidenti del Magistrato ... Francesco Raimondi [and others].
  • Health Pass Verona
  • Theodor Zwinger III (1658-1724): coat of arms with portrait and protective costume against plague. Oil painting.
  • The Plague Expedition to Anzob in Russian Turkestan. Photograph album by A.M. Levin, 1899.
  • The Plague Expedition to Anzob in Russian Turkestan. Photograph album by A.M. Levin, 1899.
  • The Plague Expedition to Anzob in Russian Turkestan. Photograph album by A.M. Levin, 1899.