The Black Death was an epidemic disease also known as the bubonic plague. This is one of the most tragic epidemics the world has ever seen. The Black Death struck England between 1348 and 1350. This plague wiped out a third of its original population. Merchant ships arriving in England at this time were blamed for the spread of this disease. People believed that when commercial ships left other countries, they brought infested rats carrying the disease. The moment rats come into contact with or bite a person is believed to be the reason why the deadly virus spreads so quickly. Many also believed that the plague was airborne; when they thought this was the cause of the spread of the Black Death, they burned incense and sprinkled perfume in the air to prevent the plague from coming upon them. In doing so, the unpleasant smell of corpses piled up in the city was also ameliorated. Church officials and Church members stated that the Black Death was brought to Earth because it was God's way of punishing the people. The symptoms of the Black Death were the presence of buboes; Buboes were fist-sized swellings on the neck, groin, or armpits. The buboes turned from red to black, giving us the name Black Death. The Black Death had a huge impact on the visual arts, literature, and music created during this time, as their subjects changed. Visual art after the Black Death saw a major shift in the focus of its subjects. subject presented. Before the plague, painters strove to paint pictures for people that showed what life was really like. It was also known as realism. The paintings were focused more on biblical scenes and the church and also ...... middle of paper ......e spread of the plague. This deadly scourge affected art which shifted from its joyful and peaceful atmosphere of bustling high society and biblical scenes to the dark and twilight scenes of the dead. These paintings now showed people's fear of being dead. Literature changed after the Black Death by depicting the events experienced by the author or those close to him. This event changed literature because it showed a different view of how literature was written before. The music was changed by this deadly plague as it imitated the experiences surrounding it with the development of the Danse Macabre. It imitated the Black Death because it showed a different way of looking at the Black Death. Music was also affected as it showed people's experiences and what they had to do to survive the plague, as shown in the song "Ring Around the Rosie »..