Plague doctor costume

Short description: Clothing worn by plague doctors that was intended to protect them from infection

Paul Fürst, engraving, c. 1656, of a plague doctor of Marseilles (introduced as 'Dr Beak of Rome'). His nose-case is filled with herbal material to keep off the plague.[1]

The clothing worn by plague doctors was intended to protect them from airborne diseases during outbreaks of bubonic plague in Europe.[2] It is often seen as a symbol of death and disease.[3] However, the costume was worn by a comparatively small number of late Renaissance and early modern physicians studying and treating plague patients.[4]

## Contents

* 1 Description
* 2 History
* 3 Carnival
* 4 COVID-19
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 6.1 Footnotes
* 6.2 Works cited
* 7 External links

## Description

Plague doctor outfit from Germany (17th century)

The costume consists of a leather hat, mask with glass eyes and a beak, stick to remove clothes of a plague victim, gloves, waxed linen robe, and boots. [5]

The typical mask had glass openings for the eyes and a curved beak shaped like a bird's beak with straps that held the beak in front of the doctor's nose.[6] The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator which contained aromatic items.[7] The beak could hold dried flowers (commonly roses and carnations), herbs (commonly lavender and peppermint), camphor, or a vinegar sponge,[8][9] as well as juniper berry, ambergris, cloves, labdanum, myrrh, and storax.[10] The purpose of the mask was to keep away bad smells such as decaying bodies and the smell taken with the most caution was known as miasma, a noxious form of "bad air". This was thought to be the principal cause of the disease.[11] Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected.[12] Though contemporary theories about the plague's nature were incorrect, it is likely that the costume actually did afford the wearer some immunity. The garments covered the body, shielding against splattered blood, lymph and cough droplets, and the waxed robe prevented fleas (the true carriers of the plague) from touching the body or clinging to the linen.[13]

The wide-brimmed leather hat indicated their profession.[14][15] Doctors used wooden canes in order to point out areas needing attention and to examine patients without touching them.[16] The canes were also used to keep people away[17][18] and to remove clothing from plague victims without having to touch them.[19]

## History

The exact origins of the costume are unclear, as most depictions come from satirical writings and political cartoons.[20] The beaked plague doctor inspired costumes in Italian theatre as a symbol of general horror and death, though some historians insist that the plague doctor was originally fictional and inspired the real plague doctors later.[21] Depictions of the beaked plague doctor rose in response to superstition and fear about the unknown source of the plague.[22] Often, these plague doctors were the last thing a patient would see before death; therefore, the doctors were seen as a foreboding of death.

The garments were first mentioned by a physician to King Louis XIII of France, Charles de L'Orme, who wrote in a 1619 plague outbreak in Paris that he developed an outfit made of Moroccan goat leather, including boots, breeches, a long coat, hat, and gloves[23][24] modeled after a soldier's canvas gown which went from the neck to the ankle.[25][26][27] The garment was impregnated with similar fragrant items as the mask.[28] L'Orme wrote that the mask had a "nose half a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils, but that can suffice to breathe and to carry along with the air one breathes the impression of the drugs enclosed further along in the beak."[29]

The Genevan physician, Jean-Jacques Manget, in his 1721 work Treatise on the Plague written just after the Great Plague of Marseille, describes the costume worn by plague doctors at Nijmegen in 1636–1637. The costume forms the frontispiece of Manget's 1721 work.[30] Their robes, leggings, hats, and gloves were also made of Morocco leather.[31] This costume was also worn by plague doctors during the Naples Plague of 1656, which killed 145,000 people in Rome and 300,000 in Naples.[32][33]

## Carnival

A beaked Venetian carnival mask bearing a picture of a plague doctor, and the inscription Il Medico della Peste ("The Plague doctor") beneath the right eye

The costume is also associated with a commedia dell'arte character called Il Medico della Peste (lit.: The Plague Doctor), who wears a distinctive plague doctor's mask.[34] The Venetian mask was normally white, consisting of a hollow beak and round eye-holes covered with clear glass, and is one of the distinctive masks worn during the Carnival of Venice.[35]

## COVID-19

Posing with variations on plague masks in New Orleans during the April 2020 pandemic shutdown

During the international Coronavirus pandemic beginning in 2020, the plague doctor costume grew in popularity due to its relevance to the pandemic, with news reports of plague doctor-costumed individuals in public places showing photos of people wearing Tom Banwell's plague doctor costumes.[36][37]

## See also

* Engineering:Gas mask - Protection from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases
* Physics:Hazmat suit - Protective suit against chemical, bacteriological, and nuclear risks
* Medicine:Medical gown - Type of personal protective equipment worn by medical professionals
* Engineering:NBC suit - Type of military personal protective equipment

## References

### Footnotes

1. ↑ Füssli's image is reproduced and discussed in Robert Fletcher, A tragedy of the Great Plague of Milan in 1630 (Baltimore: The Lord Baltimore Press, 1898), p. 16–17.
2. ↑
* Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
* Bauer, p. 145
* Byfield, p. 26
* Glaser, pp. 33-34
3. ↑ Andrew Whalen On 3/19/20 at 1:31 PM EDT (2020-03-19). "Are surgical masks the new plague masks? A history of the not-always-helpful ways we've reacted to pandemics" (in en). https://www.newsweek.com/surgical-masks-plague-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-epidemic-black-death-history-1493277.
4. ↑ Black, Winston; May 2020, All About History 19 (19 May 2020). "Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts" (in en). https://www.livescience.com/plague-doctors.html.
5. ↑ * Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
* Bauer, p. 145
* Byfield, p. 26
* Glaser, pp. 33-34
6. ↑ Ellis, p. 202
7. ↑ *Time-Life Books, pp. 140, 158
* Dolan, p. 139
* Ellis, p. 202
* Paton
* Martin, p. 121
* Sherman, p. 162
* Turner, p. 180
* Mentzel, p. 86
* Glaser, p. 36
* Hall, p. 67
* Infectious Diseases Society of America, Volume 11, p. 819
* Grolier, p. 700
8. ↑ O'Donnell, p. 135
9. ↑ Stuart, p. 15
10. ↑ Byrne 2006, p. 170.
11. ↑ "Plagues of the Past" (in en-US). 2014-12-31. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/special-edition-on-infectious-disease/2014/plagues-of-the-past/.
12. ↑ Irvine Loudon, Western Medicine: An Illustrated History (Oxford, 2001), p. 189.
13. ↑ Smith, Kiona. "A Look Behind the Plague Doctor Mask". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2021/02/28/a-look-behind-the-plague-doctor-mask/?sh=a1379a335678.
14. ↑ * Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
* Bauer, p. 145
* Byfield, p. 26
* Glaser, pp. 33-34
15. ↑ Center for Advanced Study in Theatre Arts, p. 83
16. ↑ "Imagery From the History of Medicine". http://art-bin.com/art/medhistorypix/omedicalimages19.html.
17. ↑ Association, American Medical (1900) (in en). JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. American Medical Association.. https://books.google.com/books?id=5k_lAAAAMAAJ&dq=beak+doctor+costume+"plague+doctor"&pg=PA639.
18. ↑ Byrne 2008, p. 505.
19. ↑ Pommerville, p. 9
20. ↑ "17th-century Plague Doctors Were the Stuff of Nightmares" (in en). 2020-02-12. https://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/plague-doctors.htm.
21. ↑ Black, Winston; May 2020, All About History 19 (19 May 2020). "Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts" (in en). https://www.livescience.com/plague-doctors.html.
22. ↑ Mussap, Christian J. (May 2019). "The Plague Doctor of Venice". Internal Medicine Journal 49 (5): 671–676. doi:10.1111/imj.14285. ISSN 1445-5994. PMID 31083805. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31083805.
23. ↑ Black, Winston; May 2020, All About History 19 (19 May 2020). "Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts" (in en). https://www.livescience.com/plague-doctors.html.
24. ↑ Timbs, p. 360
25. ↑ Boeckl, p. 15
26. ↑ Carmichael, A.G. (2009), "Plague, Historical", in Schaechter, Moselio, Encyclopedia of Microbiology (3rd ed.), Elsevier, pp. 58–72, doi:10.1016/B978-012373944-5.00311-4, ISBN 9780123739445
27. ↑ Iqbal Akhtar Khan (May 2004). "Plague: the dreadful visitation occupying the human mind for centuries". Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 98 (5): 270–277. doi:10.1016/S0035-9203(03)00059-2. PMID 15109549. "Charles Delorme (1584—1678), personal physician to King Louis XIII, was credited with introducing special protective clothing for plague doctors during the epidemic in Marseilles. It consisted of a beak-like mask supplied with aromatic substance, presumed to act as filter against the odour emanating from the patients, and a loose gown covering the normal clothing. On occasions, a drifting fragrance such as camphor was used.".
28. ↑ Time-Life Books, p. 158 Beak Doctor: during the Black Plague, a medical man who wore a bird mask to protect himself against infection. Black plague definition: In 14th-century Europe, the victims of the "black plague" had bleeding below the skin (subcutaneous hemorrhage) which made darkened ("blackened") their bodies. Black plague can lead to "black death" characterized by gangrene of the fingers, toes, and nose. Black plague is caused by a bacterium (Yersinia pestis) which is transmitted to humans from infected rats by the oriental rat flea.. medterm.com
29. ↑ Vidal, Pierre; Tibayrenc, Myrtille; Gonzalez, Jean-Paul (2007). "Chapter 40: Infectious disease and arts". in Tibayrenc, Michel. Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases: Modern Methodologies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 680. ISBN 9780470114193. https://books.google.com/books?id=8iVnEZe-zzkC&pg=PA680.
30. ↑ Manget, p. 3
31. ↑ Timbs, p. 360
32. ↑ The Plague Doctor
33. ↑ Christine M. Boeckl, Images of plague and pestilence: iconography and iconology (Truman State University Press, 2000), pp. 15, 27.
34. ↑ Killinger, p. 95
35. ↑ Carnevale
36. ↑ "Coronavirus: Hellesdon plague doctor given advice by police" (in en-GB). BBC News. 2020-05-04. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-52533718.
37. ↑ "'Terrifying' plague doctor: U.K. police search for person in full 17th century outfit stalking suburb" (in en-CA). https://nationalpost.com/news/world/plague-doctor-u-k-police-search-for-person-in-full-17th-century-outfit-as-locals-express-alarm.

### Works cited

* Bauer, S. Wise, The Story of the World Activity Book Two: The Middle Ages : From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance, Peace Hill Press, 2003, ISBN:0-9714129-4-4
* Boeckl, Christine M., Images of plague and pestilence: iconography and iconology, Truman State Univ Press, 2000, ISBN:0-943549-85-X
* Byfield, Ted, Renaissance: God in Man, A.D. 1300 to 1500: But Amid Its Splendors, Night Falls on Medieval Christianity, Christian History Project, 2010, ISBN:0-9689873-8-9
* Byrne, Joseph Patrick, Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues, ABC-CLIO, 2008, ISBN:0-313-34102-8
* Carmichael, Ann G., "SARS and Plagues Past", in SARS in Context: Memory, history, policy, ed. by Jacalyn Duffin and Arthur Sweetman McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006, ISBN:0-7735-3194-7
* Center for Advanced Study in Theatre Arts, Western European stages, Volume 14, CASTA, 2002,
* Dolan, Josephine, Goodnow's History of Nursing, W. B. Saunders 1963 (Philadelphia and London), LCCN 16--25236, OCLC 2882574
* Ellis, Oliver Coligny de Champfleur, A History of Fire and Flame, London: Simkin, Marshall, 1932; repr. Kessinger, 2004, ISBN:1-4179-7583-0
* Goodnow, Minnie, Goodnow's history of nursing, W.B. Saunders Co., 1968, OCLC Number: 7085173
* Glaser, Gabrielle, The Nose: A Profile of Sex, Beauty, and Survival, Simon & Schuster, 2003, ISBN:0-671-03864-8
* Grolier Incorporated, The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 8; Volume 24, Grolier Incorporated, 1998, ISBN:0-7172-0130-9
* Hall, Manly Palmer, Horizon, Philosophical Research Society, Inc., 1949
* Hirst, Leonard Fabian, The conquest of plague: a study of the evolution of epidemiology, Clarendon Press, 1953,
* Infectious Diseases Society of America, Reviews of Infectious Diseases, Volume 11, University of Chicago Press, 1989
* Kenda, Barbara, Aeolian winds and the spirit in Renaissance architecture: Academia Eolia revisited, Taylor & Francis, 2006, ISBN:0-415-39804-5
* Killinger, Charles L., Culture and customs of Italy, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN:0-313-32489-1
* Nohl, Johannes, The Black Death: A Chronicle of the Plague, J. & J. Harper Edition 1969, LCCN 79--81867, OCLC 34505
* Manget, Jean-Jacques, Traité de la peste recueilli des meilleurs auteurs anciens et modernes, Geneva, 1721, online as PDF, 28Mb download
* Martin, Sean, The Black Death, Book Sales, 2009, ISBN:0-7858-2289-5
* Mentzel, Peter, A traveller's history of Venice, Interlink Books, 2006, ISBN:1-56656-611-8
* O'Donnell, Terence, History of life insurance in its formative years, American Conservation Company, 1936
* Paton, Alex, "Cover image", QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, 100.4, 4 April 2007. (A commentary on the issue's cover photograph of The Posy Tree, Mapperton, Dorset.)
* Pommerville, Jeffrey, Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology: Body Systems, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009, ISBN:0-7637-6259-8
* Pommerville, Jeffrey, Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2010, ISBN:0-7637-6258-X
* Reynolds, Richard C., On doctor[i]ng: stories, poems, essays, Simon & Schuster, 2001, ISBN:0-7432-0153-1
* Sandler, Merton, Wine: a scientific exploration, CRC Press, 2003, ISBN:0-415-24734-9
* Sherman, Irwin W., The power of plagues, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006, ISBN:1-55581-356-9
* Stuart, David C., Dangerous garden: the quest for plants to change our lives, frances lincoln ltd, 2004, ISBN:0-7112-2265-7
* Timbs, John, The Mirror of literature, amusement, and instruction, Volume 37, J. Limbird, 1841
* Time-Life Books, What life was like in the age of chivalry: medieval Europe, AD 800-1500, 1997
* Turner, Jack, Spice: The History of a Temptation, Random House, 2005, ISBN:0-375-70705-0
* Walker, Kenneth, The story of medicine, Oxford University Press, 1955

## External links

* Debunking Popular Misconceptions about Plague Doctor Costumes and How They Were Used

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