Plague doctor costume

The plague doctor's costume was the clothing worn by a plague doctor to protect him from airborne diseases. The costume consisted of an ankle length overcoat and a bird-like beak mask often filled with sweet or strong smelling substances (commonly lavender), along with gloves, boots, a brim hat and an outer over-clothing garment.[5]

Contents

Description

Fourteenth century plague doctors who wore a bird-like mask were referred to as "beak doctors".[6][7][8] Straps held the beak in front of the doctor's nose.[9] The mask had glass openings for the eyes and a curved beak was shaped like a bird's. The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator. The mask they wore had a protruded beak which contained aromatic items.[10]

The beak could hold dried flowers (including roses and carnations), herbs (including mint), spices, camphor or a vinegar sponge.[11][12] The purpose of the mask was to keep away bad smells, which were thought to be the principal cause of the disease in the miasma theory of infection, before it was disproven by germ theory.[5][9] Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected.[9]

The beak doctor costume worn by the plague doctors had a wide brimmed leather hood to indicate their profession.[5][13] They used wooden canes to point out areas needing attention and to examine the patients without touching them.[14] The canes were also used to keep people away,[15] to remove clothing from plague victims without having to touch them, and to take a patient's pulse.[5][16]

History

Charles de Lorme adopted in 1619 the idea of a full head-to-toe protective garment,[17] modeled after a soldier's armour.[18] This consisted of not only the bird-like mask, but of a long leather (Moroccan or Levantine)[18] or waxed-canvas gown which was from the neck to the ankle.[17] The over-clothing garment, as well as leggings, gloves, boots, and a hat, were made of waxed leather.[19] The garment was impregnated with similar fragrant items as the beak mask.[20]

This popular seventeenth century poem describes the plague doctor's costume.[1][21]

As may be seen on picture here,
In Rome the doctors do appear,
When to their patients they are called,
In places by the plague appalled,
Their hats and cloaks, of fashion new,
Are made of oilcloth, dark of hue,
Their caps with glasses are designed,
Their bills with antidotes all lined,
That foulsome air may do no harm,
Nor cause the doctor man alarm,
The staff in hand must serve to show
Their noble trade where'er they go.[22]

The Genevese 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.[23] The plague doctors of Nijmegen also wore beaked masks. Their robes, leggings, hats, and gloves were made of morocco leather.[24]

This costume was also worn by plague doctors during the Plague of 1656, which killed 145,000 people in Rome and 300,000 in Naples.[25] The overcoat was sometimes made of levant morocco.[15][26] The costume terrified people because it was a sign of imminent death. Plague doctors wore these protective costumes per their agreements when they attended their plague patients.

Culture

The costume is also associated with a commedia dell'arte character called Il Medico della Peste.[27] The character's very popular mask is associated with the early-17th century French doctor Charles de Lorme. [28] He adopted the "beak mask" together with other sanitary precautions while treating plague victims.[29] The Venetian mask was normally white, consisting of a hollow beak and round eye-holes covered with clear glass.[28] The "doctor of plague" (Medico Della Peste) is referred to as the "Plague Doctor" or "Beak Doctor".[30]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b THE PLAGUE DOCTOR
  2. ^ Traité de la peste recueilli des meilleurs auteurs anciens et modernes (Geneva, 1721)
  3. ^ Timbs, pp. 360–61
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b c d Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
    • Bauer, p. 145
    • Abrams, p. 257
    • Byfield, p. 26
    • Glaser, pp. 33-34
  6. ^ Geographical: the monthly magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, Volume 63, April 1991, p. 19, Plague doctors of the 14th century wore disctintive bird-like masks and were known as beak doctors.
  7. ^ Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
    • Ellis, p.202
    • Byrne (Encyclopedia), p. 505
    • Sandler, p. 42
    • Paton
    • Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, ulrichsweb.com or email magazine at geographical.co.uk, Content Type : Academic / Scholarly
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b c Ellis, p. 202
  10. ^ 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. 34
    • Hall, p. 67
    • Infectious Diseases Society of America, Volume 11, p. 819
    • Grolier, p. 700
  11. ^ O'Donnell, p. 135
  12. ^ Stuart, p. 15
  13. ^ Center for Advanced Study in Theatre Arts, p. 83
  14. ^ Doktor Schnabel von Rom, engraving by Paul Fürst (after J Columbina), Rome 1656.
  15. ^ a b American Medical Association - JAMA.: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 34, p. 639
  16. ^ Pommerville, p. 9
  17. ^ a b Boeckl, p. 15
  18. ^ a b Carmichael, p. 57
  19. ^ Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
    • Hirts, p. 66
    • Reynolds, p. 23
  20. ^ Kenda, p. 154
  21. ^ G. L. Townsend, "The Plague Doctor", J Hist Med Allied Sci, 20 (1965), 276. (The image is on p. 277).
  22. ^ Nohl, pp. 94, 95
    • Sandler, p. 42
    • Goodnow, p. 132
    • Walker, p. 96
  23. ^ Manget, p. 3
  24. ^ Timbs, p. 360
  25. ^ The Plague Doctor
  26. ^ A high-grade morocco leather, with a large grain, properly made from the skin of the Angora goat. OED
  27. ^ Killinger, p. 95
  28. ^ a b Carnevale
  29. ^ Christine M. Boeckl, Images of plague and pestilence: iconography and iconology (Truman State University Press, 2000), p. 15.
  30. ^ The Masquerade

References