'So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel', 1841. Biblical scene, from 2 Samuel 24: 15: 'So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.' The plague of the Philistines at Ashdod: the dead and dying lying in the streets after God sent a plague which killed 70,000. The woman in the centre has blood or pus seeping from her armpit. Buboes - painful swellings in the thighs, neck, groin or armpits - are a symptom of bubonic plague. Engraving after a 17th century work by Pierre Mignard.