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

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. 

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. The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator which contained aromatic items. The beak could hold dried flowers (commonly roses and carnations), herbs (commonly lavender and peppermint), camphor, or a vinegar sponge, as well as juniper berry, ambergris, cloves, labdanum, myrrh, and storax. 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. Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected. Though contemporary 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.

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

History
The exact origins of the costume are unclear, as most depictions come from satirical writings and political cartoons. 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.  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. Depictions of the beaked plague doctor rose in response to superstition and fear about the unknown source of the plague. 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 modeled after a soldier's canvas gown which went from the neck to the ankle. The garment was impregnated with similar fragrant items as the mask. 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."

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. Their robes, leggings, hats, and gloves were also made of Morocco leather. 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.

Carnival

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. 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.

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 showing photos of people wearing plague doctor costumes.

See also

References

Footnotes

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, 
 Boeckl, Christine M., Images of plague and pestilence: iconography and iconology, Truman State Univ Press, 2000, 
 Byfield, Ted, Renaissance: God in Man, A.D. 1300 to 1500: But Amid Its Splendors, Night Falls on Medieval Christianity, Christian History Project, 2010, 
 Byrne, Joseph Patrick, Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues, ABC-CLIO, 2008, 
 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, 
 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), , 
 Ellis, Oliver Coligny de Champfleur, A History of Fire and Flame, London: Simkin, Marshall, 1932; repr. Kessinger, 2004, 
 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, 
 Grolier Incorporated, The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 8; Volume 24, Grolier Incorporated, 1998, 
 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, 
 Killinger, Charles L., Culture and customs of Italy, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, 
 Nohl, Johannes, The Black Death: A Chronicle of the Plague, J. & J. Harper Edition 1969, , 
 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, 
 Mentzel, Peter, A traveller's history of Venice, Interlink Books, 2006, 
 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, 
 Pommerville, Jeffrey, Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2010, 
 Reynolds, Richard C., On doctor[i]ng: stories, poems, essays, Simon & Schuster, 2001, 
 Sandler, Merton, Wine: a scientific exploration, CRC Press, 2003, 
 Sherman, Irwin W., The power of plagues, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006, 
 Stuart, David C., Dangerous garden: the quest for plants to change our lives, frances lincoln ltd, 2004, 
 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, 
 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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흑사병 의사 복장(黑死病 醫師 服裝)은 흑사병 의사가 공기로 전염되는 질병으로부터 스스로를 보호하기 위해 착용한 의복이었다. 17세기부터 시작된 이 의상은 발목까지 내려오는 오버코트와 대개 달콤하거나 강한 냄새가 나는 재료(주로 라벤더)를 채운 새 부리 모양의 가면과 함께 장갑, 장화, 챙 달린 모자, 겉옷을 덧입는 것으로 이루어진다.

설명 

가면에는 시야 확보를 위한 유리 개구부와 새처럼 휘어진 부리가 있다. 의사의 코 앞에 끈으로 부리를 고정하였다. 가면은 두 개의 작은 콧구멍이 달려 있는, 향료를 담은 방독면의 일종이었다. 부리에는 말린 꽃(장미와 카네이션 등)이나 허브(민트 등), 향신료, 장뇌, 식초 해면같은 것을 담았다. 가면의 목적은 포말전염설이 매균설에 의해 논파되기 전, 질병의 주요 감염 원인으로 여겼던 악취를 피하기 위한 것이었다. 의사들은 허브가 흑사병의 "악한" 냄새에 맞서 감염되지 않도록 예방할 것이라 믿었다.

흑사병 의사들은 부리 가면 복장에 더해 자신들의 직업을 나타낼 수 있도록 넓은 챙이 달린 가죽 모자를 썼다. 보아야 할 부분을 가리키고 환자들을 만지지 않고 진찰하기 위해 나무로 된 지팡이를 사용했다. 지팡이는 또한 사람을 멀리하기 위해 사용하였는데, 이것으로 아무런 접촉 없이 흑사병 감염자의 옷을 벗기고 환자의 맥박을 잴 수 있었다.

각주

참고 문헌 

 Abrams, J. J., The Road Not Taken, Simon & Schuster, 2005, 
 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, 
 Boeckl, Christine M., Images of plague and pestilence: iconography and iconology, Truman State Univ Press, 2000, 
 Byfield, Ted, Renaissance: God in Man, A.D. 1300 to 1500: But Amid Its Splendors, Night Falls on Medieval Christianity, Christian History Project, 2010, 
 Byrne, Joseph Patrick, Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues, ABC-CLIO, 2008, 
 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, 
 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), Library of Congress No. 16-25236
 Ellis, Oliver Coligny de Champfleur, A History of Fire and Flame, London: Simkin, Marshall, 1932; repr. Kessinger, 2004, 
 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, 
 Grolier Incorporated, The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 8; Volume 24, Grolier Incorporated, 1998, 
 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, 
 Killinger, Charles L., Culture and customs of Italy, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, 
 Nohl, Johannes, The Black Death: A Chronicle of the Plague, J. & J. Harper Edition 1969, Library of Congress No. 79-81867
 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, 
 Mentzel, Peter,  A traveller's history of Venice , Interlink Books, 2006, 
 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, 
 Pommerville, Jeffrey, Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2010, 
 Reynolds, Richard C., On doctor[i]ng: stories, poems, essays, Simon & Schuster, 2001, 
 Sandler, Merton, Wine: a scientific exploration, CRC Press, 2003, 
 Sherman, Irwin W., The power of plagues, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006, 
 Stuart, David C., Dangerous garden: the quest for plants to change our lives, frances lincoln ltd, 2004, 
 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, 
 Walker, Kenneth,  The story of medicine '', Oxford University Press, 1955

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