St Thecla Praying for the Plague-stricken

Thecla, a companion and disciple of the apostle Paul, is the patron saint of the north Italian city of Este. Surrounded by plague victims, she beseeches God to deliver the city from disaster. Thecla’s prayer is answered: angels chase away the Plague, a satanic creature with a pointed crown. The print reproduces Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s 1759 immense, almost seven-metre-high altarpiece in the cathedral of Este.