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The Plague of Ashdod (1630) Nicholas Poussin

The artwork “The Plague of Ashdod” was created by the French painter Nicolas Poussin in 1630. It portrays the biblical narrative of a divine plague inflicted upon the people of Ashdod. 

This dramatic scene of divine punishment is described in the Old Testament. The Philistines are stricken with plague in their city of Ashdod because they have stolen the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and placed it in their pagan temple. You can see the decorated golden casket of the Ark between the pillars of the temple. People look around in horror at their dead and dying companions. One man leans over the corpses of his wife and child and covers his nose to avoid the stench. Rats scurry towards the bodies. The broken statue of their deity, Dagon, and the tumbled down stone column further convey the Philistines’ downfall.

In the artwork, Poussin vividly depicts the turmoil and suffering caused by the plague. The foreground is filled with the stricken inhabitants of Ashdod; their bodies are contorted in agony or limp in the stillness of death, illustrating the mercilessness of the affliction. The variety of postures and expressions captures the range of human suffering and chaos that accompanies such disaster. 

Amongst the afflicted, several figures stand out due to their dynamic gestures or central placement within the composition, drawing the viewer’s eye and emphasizing the emotional impact of the scene. In the background, classical architecture gives a sense of order and permanence that starkly contrasts with the disarray and despair of the figures. Poussin’s use of colour and light skilfully highlights the drama, with the dark and earthy tones of the suffering masses set against the lighter, more serene sky, which suggests divine presence or intervention.

Poussin’s use of color and light skillfully highlights the drama, with the dark and earthy tones of the suffering masses set against the lighter, more serene sky, which suggests divine presence or intervention. The overall effect is one of a carefully structured scene that conveys a narrative full of intensity and profound human drama, characteristic of the religious paintings of the period and the classical style Poussin is renowned for. Poussin began to paint The Plague of Ashdod while the bubonic plague was still raging throughout Italy though sparing Rome. He first called the painting The Miracle in the Temple of Dagon, but later it became known as The Plague of Ashdod.

The painting most importantly provides a view into how illness and diseases were feared at that time in the past and the fact that people had the knowledge that it was transmissible during that time period which was the 16th century.

𝕸𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖞 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖘!🎄🎅𝕸𝖆𝖞 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖘 𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖍𝖊𝖘 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖙𝖗𝖚𝖊!

🥳𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬! 𝐖𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲! 🎉 scrionl.blog ♡
🚨𝐃𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡!🚨
𝐖𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭!📱
𝐀 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ‘𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭’ 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝! 📞

𝐓𝐡𝐞 ‘𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 & 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 & 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞 & 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬’ 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞!💙
𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ‘𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬’ 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐃𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭!⚡️
𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬! 𝐖𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬! 🍾 🍷
𝓒𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓫𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝓮𝓭𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓰’𝓼 1-𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓪𝓻𝔂!🍾🍷

What you need to know about the Nipah virus as a medical professional…

The Nipah virus was first identified in April 1999 on a pig farm in peninsular Malaysia when it caused an outbreak of neurological and respiratory disease. The outbreak resulted in 257 human cases, 105 human deaths, and the culling of 1 million pigs. Geographical Distribution & Emergence The emergence of NiV as a significant public…

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Imagine a billionaire that’s a tech giant having a vision to fulfil, it may bring chaos, violence, and intense human emotions but it also brings a huge lump sum of cash! Your child is one of the few chosen ones to go on a far-away realm in the palms of their hands, it’s Mars! It’s…

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The BMA and the RCGP have stated that the role of PA should be phased out. The Leng review, published in July last year, found that there were ‘no convincing reasons to abolish the roles’ completely, but also ‘no case for continuing with the roles unchanged.   The review recommended that they should not triage…

A Life-Changing Eye Injecting Gel

Restoring impairing blindness and repurposing the old techniques…   “It’s incredible, it’s life-changing, it’s given me everything back. It was challenging. I couldn’t see to get around my house, I found it incredibly tough to get outside, How am I gonna see my child when he runs off?” Nicki Guy     Hypotony is a…

An Eye For an Eye Towards Liver Cancer Treatment

Alex Villalta as he was working in his office for his tile business, got a doctor visit who told him that he had “lost a lot of weight.” He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called leiomyosarcoma that had spread to his liver and it weighed more than 4 kg. Dr Sinziana Dumitra,…

Vaccine-Hate Brings More Trouble

Vaccines are the single greatest invention known to man. They are the most primitive for the most of the ‘Health for All’ practice. For God’s sake, the great plagues and outbreaks of the past centuries would’ve been rid off, if they have what we have now!   Politics are dirty and it’s dirty for a…

  • The UK’s Public Inquiry on Core Government Involvement in the COVID-19 Responses and Alertness Handling Across the UK

    by

    Nivea Vaz
    3–5 minutes

    A perfect example of how scientific data and outcomes caused by pure ignorance, dirty politics and unsatisfied vaccine results failed humanity

    The Rt Hon the Baroness Hallett DBE, addressed the challenge of the COVID-19 Inquiry, by dividing the situationship of each constituent countries in chronological order of events that have unfolded in the chaos and disastrous consequences of failed core political and administrative decision-making across the UK in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Rt Hon the Baroness Hallett DBE

    There is a comparison of the contrasting administrative decision-making made by the four governments responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Future reports will continue to focus on areas specifically pertaining to

    1. Healthcare systems
    2. Vaccines and therapeutics
    3. Procurement and distribution of key equipment and supplies
    4. The care sector
    5. Test, trace and isolate programmes
    6. Children and young people
    7. The economic response to the pandemic
    8. The impact on society

    This is a second report containing a set of modules; Module 2-UK, Module-2A -Scotland, Module 2B-Wales, and Module 2C-Northern Ireland.

    The Key Findings are broken down as follows in short lines;

    The emergence of COVID-19

    There was a lack of preparedness, information and a lack of urgency when it came to approaching an initial response. A limited testing capacity and lack of surveillance meant that the decision making failed to carry out measures that would eventually limit/contain the virus spread. This was further compounded by the Department of Health and Social Care into believing that the UK was well-prepared for controlling and containing an epidemic that was cousin to the common cold. (Distantly for that matter!)

    The administrators were dependent on the government rather than creating a response of their own.

    The first UK-wide lockdown

    By the 13th of March 2020 it was obvious that the true cases were several times higher than the estimates like to predict. This would inevitably cause an already overwhelmed NHS to tirelessly lose reigns over the waiting lists period.

    If it was taken up 1 week earlier there would be approx 23,000 deaths when the first wave occurred until 1st July 2020.

    All the four governments were given strong advice to impose a lockdown.

    Exiting the first lockdown

    While entering the 1st lockdown, none of the four governments had any strategy on how to exit the lockdown. On the 4th of July 2020, majority of England’s restrictions were eased. This was a time period when the high-risk infections were rampant.

    There was also little planning as to how to effectively strategize for the second wave of the pandemic.

    The second wave

    The UK government, the Welsh government and the Northern Ireland introduced the restriction too late and the rising rates of autumn 2020 meant they could not control the virus spread.

    A lockdown of the ‘circuit-breaker’ kind was introduced in late September to early October of the same year, meanwhile, the second lockdown imposed on England on 5th November could have shorter or avoided all together.

    In Wales, the government did not increase the restriction period until 23rd October despite being advised top do so on the 5th of October 2020.

    In Northern Ireland, politics had divided the Executive Committee meetings that led to chaos, A four week was introduced instead of the advised six-week intervention.

    In Scotland, measures targeted in the locality instead of the entire nation meant cases had grown to be more gradual.  

    The vaccination rollout of the Delta and Omicron variants

    On December of 2020, the UK was the first to approve for a vaccine and for the commencement of a vaccination programme.

    The Delta variant emerged in March 2021, the government delayed planned relations and allowed for the rollout of the vaccine, the vaccine was the main emphasis.

    The Omicron variant, was less severe and more transmissible emerged in the winter of 2021, the conferred protection of the vaccine meant that more than 30,000 people died with COVID-19 between November 2021 and June 2022

    Specific Recommendations include;

    1. Improving consideration of the impact that decisions might have on those most at risk in an emergency
    2. Broadening participation in SAGE (The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies)
    3. Reforming and clarifying the structures for decision-making during emergencies within each nation
    4. Ensuring that decisions and their implications are clearly communicated to the public
    5. Enabling greater parliamentary scrutiny to the use of emergency powers
    6. Establishing structures to improve the communication between the for nations during an emergency

    Picture Credit;

    https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/hearings/

    Sources;

    UK Covid-19 Inquiry YouTube 

    Rating: 5 out of 5.

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    𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎-𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜! 𝚄𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 ‘𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎.’

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