Plague doctor costume

Paul Fürst, engraving, c. 1721, of a plague doctor of Marseilles (introduced as 'Dr Beaky of Rome'). His nose-case is filled with smoking material to keep off the plague.[1]

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.[2]

Description

The mask had glass openings for the eyes and a curved beak shaped like that of a bird. Straps held the beak in front of the doctor's nose.[3] The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator which contained aromatic items. [4] The beak could hold dried flowers (including roses and carnations), herbs (including mint), spices, camphor, or a vinegar sponge.[5][6] 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 disproved by germ theory.[2][3] Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected.[3]

The beak doctor costume worn by plague doctors had a wide-brimmed leather hat to indicate their profession.[2][7] They used wooden canes to point out areas needing attention and to examine patients without touching them.[8] The canes were also used to keep people away,[9] to remove clothing from plague victims without having to touch them, and to take a patient's pulse.[2][10]

History

Medical historians have attributed the invention of the "beak doctor" costume to Charles de Lorme, who adopted in 1619 the idea of a full head-to-toe protective garment,[11] modeled after a soldier's armour.[12] This consisted of a bird-like mask and a long leather (Moroccan or Levantine)[12] or waxed-canvas gown which was from the neck to the ankle.[11][13][14] The over-clothing garment, as well as leggings, gloves, boots, and a hat, were made of waxed leather.[15] The garment was impregnated with similar fragrant items as the beak mask.[16] The costume may have older roots as some authors have described fourteenth-century plague doctors as wearing bird-like masks.[17][18][19]

This popular seventeenth century poem describes the plague doctor's costume.[20][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]

A beaked Venetian carnival mask with the inscription Medico della Peste (‘Plague doctor’) beneath the right eye

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 costume terrified people because it was a sign of imminent death. Plague doctors wore these protective costumes in accordance with 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 (the Plague Doctor), who wears a distinctive plague doctor's mask.[26] 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.[27]

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. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
    • Bauer, p. 145
    • Abrams, p. 257
    • Byfield, p. 26
    • Glaser, pp. 33-34
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ellis, p. 202
  4. ↑ 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
  5. ↑ O'Donnell, p. 135
  6. ↑ Stuart, p. 15
  7. ↑ Center for Advanced Study in Theatre Arts, p. 83
  8. ↑ Doktor Schnabel von Rom, engraving by Paul Fürst (after J Columbina), Rome 1656.
  9. ↑ American Medical Association - JAMA.: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 34, p. 639
  10. ↑ Pommerville, p. 9
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Boeckl, p. 15
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Carmichael, p. 57
  13. ↑ 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
  14. ↑ 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. 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.
  15. ↑ Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
    • Hirts, p. 66
    • Reynolds, p. 23
  16. ↑ Kenda, p. 154
  17. ↑ Geographical: the monthly magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, Volume 63, April 1991, p. 19, Plague doctors of the 14th century wore distinctive bird-like masks and were known as beak doctors.
  18. ↑ 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
  19. ↑ 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
  20. ↑ THE PLAGUE DOCTOR
  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. ↑ Killinger, p. 95
  27. ↑ Carnevale

References

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