Plague doctor costume explained

The clothing worn by plague doctors was intended to protect them from airborne diseases during outbreaks of bubonic plague in Europe.[1] It is often seen as a symbol of death and disease.[2] Contrary to popular belief, no evidence suggests that the beak mask costume was worn during the Black Death or the Middle Ages. The costume started to appear in the 17th century when physicians studied and treated plague patients.[3]

Description

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.[1]

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.[4] The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator which contained aromatic items.[5] The beak could hold dried flowers (commonly roses and carnations), herbs (commonly lavender and peppermint), camphor, or a vinegar sponge,[6] [7] as well as juniper berry, ambergris, cloves, labdanum, myrrh, and storax. The purpose of the mask was to keep away bad smells, such as the smell of decaying bodies. 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.[8] Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected.[9] Though these particular theories about the plague's nature were incorrect, it is likely that the costume actually did afford the wearer some protection. 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.[10]

The wide-brimmed leather hat indicated their profession.[1] [11] Doctors used wooden canes in order to point out areas needing attention and to examine patients without touching them.[12] The canes were also used to keep people away[13] and to remove clothing from plague victims.[14]

History

The exact origins of the costume are unclear, as most depictions come from satirical writings and political cartoons.[15] An early reference to plague doctors wearing masks is in 1373 when Johannes Jacobi recommends their use but he offers no physical description of them.[16] The beaked plague doctor inspired costumes in Italian theater 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.[17] Depictions of the beaked plague doctor rose in response to superstition and fear about the unknown source of the plague.[18] 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 Lorme, 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[19] [20] modeled after a soldier's canvas gown which went from the neck to the ankle.[21] The garment was impregnated with similar fragrant items as the mask.[22] De Lorme 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."[23] However, recent research has revealed that strong caveats must be applied with regard to De Lorme's assertions.[24]

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.[25] Their robes, leggings, hats, and gloves were also made of Morocco leather.[26] 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.[27] In his work Latin: Tractatus de Peste,[28] published at Toulouse in May 1629,[29] Irish physician Niall Ó Glacáin references the protective clothing worn by plague doctors, which included leather coats, gauntlets and long beak-like masks filled with fumigants.[30] [31]

Carnival

The costume is also associated with a Italian: [[commedia dell'arte]] character called Italian: Il Medico della Peste ('The Plague Doctor'), who wears a distinctive plague doctor's mask.[32] 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.[33]

COVID-19

During the COVID-19 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 and photos of people wearing plague doctor costumes appearing in social media.[34] [35]

References

Works cited

External links

Notes and References

    • Pommerville (Body Systems), p. 15
    • Bauer, p. 145
    • Byfield, p. 26
    • Glaser, pp. 33-34
  2. Web site: 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. 2021-03-09. Newsweek. en.
  3. Web site: Black. Winston. May 2020. All About History 19. Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts. 2021-03-09. livescience.com. 19 May 2020. en.
  4. Ellis, p. 202
    • 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
  6. O'Donnell, p. 135
  7. Stuart, p. 15
  8. Web site: 2014-12-31. Plagues of the Past. 2021-03-09. Science in the News. en-US.
  9. [Irvine Loudon]
  10. Web site: Smith . Kiona . A Look Behind the Plague Doctor Mask . Forbes . 15 February 2023.
  11. Center for Advanced Study in Theatre Arts, p. 83
  12. Web site: Imagery From the History of Medicine. 2021-03-09. art-bin.com.
  13. Book: Association, American Medical. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 1900. American Medical Association.. en.
  14. Pommerville, p. 9
  15. Web site: 2020-02-12. 17th-century Plague Doctors Were the Stuff of Nightmares. 2021-03-09. HowStuffWorks. en.
  16. Samuel Cohn's The Black Death Transformed: Disease and Culture in Early Renaissance Europe, pg 209
  17. Web site: Black. Winston. May 2020. All About History 19. Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts. 2021-03-09. livescience.com. 19 May 2020. en.
  18. Mussap . Christian J. . May 2019 . The Plague Doctor of Venice . Internal Medicine Journal . 49 . 5 . 671–676 . 10.1111/imj.14285 . 1445-5994 . 31083805.
  19. Web site: Black. Winston. May 2020. All About History 19. Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts. 2021-03-09. livescience.com. 19 May 2020. en.
  20. Timbs, p. 360
  21. 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. 10.1016/S0035-9203(03)00059-2. 15109549. Charles de Lorme (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..
  22. 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
  23. Book: Vidal. Pierre. https://books.google.com/books?id=8iVnEZe-zzkC&pg=PA680. Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases: Modern Methodologies. Tibayrenc. Myrtille. Gonzalez. Jean-Paul. John Wiley & Sons. 2007. 9780470114193. Tibayrenc. Michel. 680. Chapter 40: Infectious disease and arts.
  24. Mattie. Herbert J.. "Men in Tights: Charles De Lorme (1584–1678) and the First Plague Costume". European Journal for the History of Medicine and Health (Published Online Ahead of Print 2023). 2023 . 1–13 . 10.1163/26667711-bja10033 . en.
  25. Manget, p. 3
  26. Timbs, p. 360
  27. G. L. T. . July 1965 . The Plague Doctor . Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences . XX . 3 . 276 . 10.1093/jhmas/ . 2024-07-21 .
  28. Full title: Latin: Tractatus de Peste, Seu Brevis, Facilis et Experta Methodus Curandi Pestem ('A Treatise on Plague, or A Short, Easy, and Expert Method for the Curing of Plague')
  29. O'Glacan, Nial . 42 . Moore . Norman . Sir Norman Moore, 1st Baronet. 33 . 1.
  30. Encyclopedia: March 2021 . Nial O'Glacan (c.1590 - 1655) . Dictionary of Ulster Biography . 5 August 2024 . Newmann . Kate . Kate Newmann.
  31. Murphy . David . October 2009 . O'Glacan (Ó Glacan), Nial . Dictionary of Irish Biography . 10.3318/dib.006763.v1 . 14 December 2023 .
  32. Killinger, p. 95
  33. http://www.carnavalexhibit.org/venice.php Carnevale
  34. News: 2020-05-04 . Coronavirus: Hellesdon plague doctor given advice by police . en-GB . BBC News . 2023-03-03.
  35. Web site: 'Terrifying' plague doctor: U.K. police search for person in full 17th century outfit stalking suburb . 2023-03-03 . nationalpost . en-CA.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Plague doctor costume".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.