Plague and hell fire: the V&A's window on to a dark, disturbing world

In the museum’s new permanent display of art from 1600 to 1815, a breathtaking Bernini sets us off on a journey from plague-ridden Baroque darkness to Enlightenment exuberance
Ludovica Albertoni was a 16th-century noblewoman who gave her wealth and ultimately her life to help the poor and the sick of Rome. After she was beatified by the pope in 1671, Gian Lorenzo Bernini created a stupefying sculpture for her tomb statue. With her head thrown back and one hand caressing her right breast, s