Throughout its long and storied history, the discipline of rhetoric has documented the power of the spoken and written word. Of late, however, we are being reminded about the rhetorical significance of visual images--that pictures, videos, and other visual works also are part of what Aristotle called the "available means of persuasion." Visual imagery also may provide a good test of whether, as some scholars have argued, rhetoric can create reality and truth, a thesis the author's own research over the past four decades has disputed. There is no better example of the power of visual rhetoric than the current coronavirus pandemic devastating our country and the world. And there may be no better illustration of how persuasive resources have the potential to lessen the negative outcomes of this crisis.