The painting was purchased at the Paris Salon in 1869, where it was exhibited as part of the Salon of that year. It entered the collection of Napoleon III in 1869 after being acquired from the Salon through the Civil List. In 1872, it was transferred to the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, where it remained until 1929. In 1929, the work was assigned to the Musée du Louvre and remained there until 1978. In 1978, it was transferred to the newly established Musée d’Orsay, where it is now held under inventory number RF 80. The painting was also exhibited internationally, including at the International Art Exhibition in Munich in 1869 and in Prague in 1870.
Elie Delaunay's Plague in Rome is a vast history painting executed in 1869 that portrays a scary view of ancient Rome during an epidemic. There is no historically or medically accurate representation of a plague; instead, this painting provides us with a supernatural combat; this is epitomized by the fact that death is embodied in two angels in particular, one of whom brings the illness itself and the other its accompanying death. The long road in front of the viewer is devoid of life.
Behind in the shadows on the left lie dead plague victims.
Dramatic and winged messengers emerge into the light on the right, an interesting comparison to those in shadow at the bottom right hand of the painting.
A further number of images in this painting support that it is intended to portray Rome in the times of plague: the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius can be seen far in the distance; buildings and terraces are used to frame the scene. Two frightened figures have sought refuge beneath a statue of Aesculapius (the Roman God of medicine and healing) on the bottom right hand side of the painting. In the top hand left portion of the painting a parade of Christian priests carrying a gilded cross advances towards us through the darkness; the inclusion of these different images of Rome's history combine to form an apparent depiction of an era in which the ancient Roman society of paganism, healing and medicine mix and interact with the encroaching new religion of Christianity.
The depiction relies on a story found within The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine. Part of the story which concerns Saint Sebastian reads: a good angel commanded a wicked angel, bearing a spear, to strike the doors of houses, which would specify the number of individuals due to perish. Indeed, in response to this portrayal, Delaunay embarked upon a series of preparatory drawings for the painting as early as 1857 and also made use of a 15 th century fresco depicting the pestilence found within the Roman church of San Pietro in Vincoli when interpreting it.
Though an ancient pestilence is shown, the period in which this painting was made sees no longer a great fear in the population of an encroaching pestilence which was so relevant at the time it was originally established by some, but instead the intent seems purely to invoke a sense that man is frail and mortality inevitable. An excerpt describing The Plague in Rome from the muse d'Orsay reads, "it is a painting where everything contrasts; symbolism, fantasy; life with death, ancient, pagan Rome with Christian France." The painting was one of the most discussed artworks at the 1869 Paris Salon.
Inspired by a passage in The Golden Legend, it depicts a good angel directing a dark "angel of death" to strike doors with a spear, symbolizing how many deaths would occur in each household. Delaunay utilizes dramatic chiaroscuro and a somber, muted color palette to amplify the grim, apocalyptic atmosphere. The contrasting movement between the graceful celestial figure and the desperate earthly chaos powerfully underscores the inescapable reality of mortality and divine judgment.
