for those interested in researching Plague Doctors costumes, .I again hope this is helpful for modding, personal interest, reenactments,
or for anyone, who's just looking for historically themed, Halloween costumes,
that's more than just a Venetian masquerade mask...
here a few interesting references, note that uniformity wasn't always
important, as some doctors improvised their own designs,
so it's probably OK to be both creative and authentic...
Wait what am I saying?!
scratch that!have fun, happy Halloween everybody...
Italian: "Medica della Peste" / "Dottore della peste".
French: "Médecin de Peste" / "Docteur de Peste"
German and Dutch: "Pestartz" / "Pestdokters"
Pestdokters : plague specialist doctors and surgeons
pestmeesters: medically unskilled plague masters
interesting articles by Dr Erwin J.O. Kompanje...
https://erwinkompanje.wordpress.com/pest-artsen/ https://erwinkompanje.wordpress.com/tag/pestmasker/Note: it is often common to confuse 17th and 18th century doctors, operating during
cholera epidemics, with their earlier counterparts, during the bubonic black plague.
The beaked mask, was probably, only developed later by Charles de L'Orme in 1619
Medieval physicians during the bubonic plague
One of the first known illustrations of a doctor lancing a bubo,
boil or vesicle on a plague victim. Hans Folz, German woodblock print, 1482
15th century Danse Macabre, Heinrich Knoblochtzer,
shows how death does not stop even in front of a doctor!
Doctor treating plague victims, Chapel of St Sebastian frescoes,
Villard-de-Lans, Rhone-Alpes, France, 15th century
boil or vesicle on a plague victim. Hans Folz, German woodblock print, 1482
15th century Danse Macabre, Heinrich Knoblochtzer,
shows how death does not stop even in front of a doctor!
Doctor treating plague victims, Chapel of St Sebastian frescoes,
Villard-de-Lans, Rhone-Alpes, France, 15th century
17th century sources and interpretations
Treaty of the plague, 1671, by Dutch physician, anatomist,
and professor, Isbrand van Diemerbroeck (1609 – 1674)
De peste, first published in Latin in 1646; republished in 1665 by Joan Blaeu,
then republished in 1687 and 1721; translated into Dutch in 1671, then English in 1722
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isbrand_van_Diemerbroeck
The Gerhart Altzenbach engraving - 1656
Collection Yale Medical Library, Clements C. Fry Collection
"Doktor Schnabel von Rom"
Satirical image by Paul Furst, Rome - 1656
Translation by Kathleen Crowther, University of Oklahoma
https://beforenewton.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/did-plague-doctors-wear-those-masks/
Original Latin/German text English translation
Doktor Schnabel von Rom Doctor Beak from Rome
Vos Creditis, als eine fabel You believe it is a fable
quod scribitur vom Doctor Schnabel What is written about Dr. Beak
der fugit die Contagion Who flees the contagion
et aufert seinen Lohn darvon And snatches his wage from it
Cadavera sucht er zu fristen He seeks cadavers to eke out a living
Gleich wie der Corvus auf der Misten Just like the raven on the dung heap
Ah Credite, sihet nicht dort hin Oh believe, don’t look away
Dann Romae regnat die Pestin. For the plague rules Rome.
Quis non deberet sehr erschrecken Who would not be very frightened
für seiner Virgul oder stecken Before his little rod or stick
qua loquitur als wär er stumm By which means he speaks as though he were mute,
und deutet sein consilium. and indicates his decision
Wie mancher Credit ohne zweiffel So many a one believes without doubt
das ihn tentir ein schwartzen teuffl That he is touched by a black devil
Marsupium heist seine Höll His hell is called “purse”
und aurum die geholte seel. And the souls he fetches are gold.
Kleidung wider den Tod zu Rom. Anno 1656. Also gehen die Doctores Medici daher zu Rom, wann sie die an der Pest erkranckte personen besuchen, sie zu curiren und tragen, sich widerm Gifft zu sichern, ein langes kleid von gewäxtem Tüch ihr Angesicht ist verlarvt, für den Augen haben sie grosse Crÿstalline Brillen, wider Nasen einen langen Schnabel mit wolriechender Specereÿ, in der Hände, welche mit Handschüher wol versehen ist, eine lange Rüthe und darmit deüten sie, was man thun, und gebraüchen soll.
Clothing to ward off death in Rome, 1656. The doctors of medicine in Rome go about thus, when they visit people sick with the plague in order to take care of them. And they wear, to protect themselves from poison [infection], a long robe made of waxed cloth. Their face is wrapped up; in front of their eyes they have large crystal glasses; over their nose they have a long beak filled with good-smelling spices; in their hands, which are protected by gloves, they carry a long rod and with this they indicate what people should do and what [medicines] they should use.
Title Page (right) and plate of a plague doctor from the
"Historiae Anatomicae" by Thomas Bartholin - 1661
Grevenbroeck manuscript, 17th century. Museo Correr, Venice, Italy
by Jan van Grevenbroeck (1731-1807), Alternatively Grevenbroeck, Jan the Younger
Interpretations...
Swiss physician, Dr. Theodore Zwinger III of Bale (1658-1724)
coat of arms with portrait and personal plague costume
modern reconstruction of John Watson's plague outfit, London - 1665
A Doctor's Life: A Visual History of Doctors and Nurses Through the Ages
Rod Storring, Dutton Juvenile, 1998
Scottish artist, Frank To - 2011
17th century Plague Doctor, London: Callow & Wilson, 1827 based on a quote by,
Cardinal Giovanni Carlo de 'Medici,that the doctors had to wear a coat to knee height,
quoted in M. Bini, La peste dell'anno 1631 Bollettino Storico Empolese 1961-1962: 5
Authentiek pestmasker. Uit Meller, Fundsache Luther (Theiss, 200
Museum der Weltkulturen, Frankfurt, Germany
Plague Doctors Protective clothing
on display at the Welcome Museum - 1665
Oil cloth mask with a bronze beak and a terracotta model of a foot and leg.
From a lazaretto in Venice, then taken to Rome and placed in the Museum of Hygiene
from which it has disappeared. A lazaretto is a hospital for the quarantine
and treatment of contagious diseases. Wellcome Library no. 34777i
M. Bib. Marciana Venezia. Cerurgia cauteriurum, secundum Rugerium,
Brunum et Rolandum. Membranaceo (?), del sec. XIV. Pag 22 secto
watercolor painting depicts the costume as described by Jean Jacques Manget (1652-1742)
in his Traité de la peste (Treatise on the plague), published in Geneva in 1721.
The costume’s gown was made of morocco leather, underneath which was worn a skirt,
breeches, and boots, all of leather and fitting into one another. The long beak-like nose piece,
was fitted with aromatic substances and the eye-holes were covered with glass.
and professor, Isbrand van Diemerbroeck (1609 – 1674)
De peste, first published in Latin in 1646; republished in 1665 by Joan Blaeu,
then republished in 1687 and 1721; translated into Dutch in 1671, then English in 1722
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isbrand_van_Diemerbroeck
The Gerhart Altzenbach engraving - 1656
Collection Yale Medical Library, Clements C. Fry Collection
"Doktor Schnabel von Rom"
Satirical image by Paul Furst, Rome - 1656
Translation by Kathleen Crowther, University of Oklahoma
https://beforenewton.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/did-plague-doctors-wear-those-masks/Original Latin/German text English translation
Doktor Schnabel von Rom Doctor Beak from Rome
Vos Creditis, als eine fabel You believe it is a fable
quod scribitur vom Doctor Schnabel What is written about Dr. Beak
der fugit die Contagion Who flees the contagion
et aufert seinen Lohn darvon And snatches his wage from it
Cadavera sucht er zu fristen He seeks cadavers to eke out a living
Gleich wie der Corvus auf der Misten Just like the raven on the dung heap
Ah Credite, sihet nicht dort hin Oh believe, don’t look away
Dann Romae regnat die Pestin. For the plague rules Rome.
Quis non deberet sehr erschrecken Who would not be very frightened
für seiner Virgul oder stecken Before his little rod or stick
qua loquitur als wär er stumm By which means he speaks as though he were mute,
und deutet sein consilium. and indicates his decision
Wie mancher Credit ohne zweiffel So many a one believes without doubt
das ihn tentir ein schwartzen teuffl That he is touched by a black devil
Marsupium heist seine Höll His hell is called “purse”
und aurum die geholte seel. And the souls he fetches are gold.
Kleidung wider den Tod zu Rom. Anno 1656. Also gehen die Doctores Medici daher zu Rom, wann sie die an der Pest erkranckte personen besuchen, sie zu curiren und tragen, sich widerm Gifft zu sichern, ein langes kleid von gewäxtem Tüch ihr Angesicht ist verlarvt, für den Augen haben sie grosse Crÿstalline Brillen, wider Nasen einen langen Schnabel mit wolriechender Specereÿ, in der Hände, welche mit Handschüher wol versehen ist, eine lange Rüthe und darmit deüten sie, was man thun, und gebraüchen soll.
Clothing to ward off death in Rome, 1656. The doctors of medicine in Rome go about thus, when they visit people sick with the plague in order to take care of them. And they wear, to protect themselves from poison [infection], a long robe made of waxed cloth. Their face is wrapped up; in front of their eyes they have large crystal glasses; over their nose they have a long beak filled with good-smelling spices; in their hands, which are protected by gloves, they carry a long rod and with this they indicate what people should do and what [medicines] they should use.
Title Page (right) and plate of a plague doctor from the
"Historiae Anatomicae" by Thomas Bartholin - 1661
Grevenbroeck manuscript, 17th century. Museo Correr, Venice, Italy
by Jan van Grevenbroeck (1731-1807), Alternatively Grevenbroeck, Jan the Younger
Interpretations...
Swiss physician, Dr. Theodore Zwinger III of Bale (1658-1724)
coat of arms with portrait and personal plague costume
modern reconstruction of John Watson's plague outfit, London - 1665
A Doctor's Life: A Visual History of Doctors and Nurses Through the Ages
Rod Storring, Dutton Juvenile, 1998
Scottish artist, Frank To - 2011
17th century Plague Doctor, London: Callow & Wilson, 1827 based on a quote by,
Cardinal Giovanni Carlo de 'Medici,that the doctors had to wear a coat to knee height,
quoted in M. Bini, La peste dell'anno 1631 Bollettino Storico Empolese 1961-1962: 5
Authentiek pestmasker. Uit Meller, Fundsache Luther (Theiss, 200
Museum der Weltkulturen, Frankfurt, Germany
Plague Doctors Protective clothing
on display at the Welcome Museum - 1665
Oil cloth mask with a bronze beak and a terracotta model of a foot and leg.
From a lazaretto in Venice, then taken to Rome and placed in the Museum of Hygiene
from which it has disappeared. A lazaretto is a hospital for the quarantine
and treatment of contagious diseases. Wellcome Library no. 34777i
M. Bib. Marciana Venezia. Cerurgia cauteriurum, secundum Rugerium,
Brunum et Rolandum. Membranaceo (?), del sec. XIV. Pag 22 secto
watercolor painting depicts the costume as described by Jean Jacques Manget (1652-1742)
in his Traité de la peste (Treatise on the plague), published in Geneva in 1721.
The costume’s gown was made of morocco leather, underneath which was worn a skirt,
breeches, and boots, all of leather and fitting into one another. The long beak-like nose piece,
was fitted with aromatic substances and the eye-holes were covered with glass.
Post 18th century examples and interpretations
Plague Doctor's Mask from around 1700.
German Museum of Medical History in Ingolstadt
beaked mask -1750
Anagoria, Berlin - Deutsches Historisches Museum
Comparisons...
Protective Clothing of Doctors and Others Who Visit Plague Houses.
Illustration of Doctor Francois Chicoyneau (1672-1752)
from Der Pestarzt, during the plague of Marseilles in 1720
Germanisches National museum, Munich, Germany
Comparisons...
historical print of a plague doctor
artist and date unknown
A physician dressed in protective plague costume.
Line engraving after Jean-Jacques Manget (1652-1742)
'Traité de la peste', Geneva 1721, vol I.
left: plague doctor from Marseilles, by Johannn Fussli Melchior (1677-1736)
Right: A tragedy of the great plague of Milan in 1630 by Robert Fletcher (189
with an illustration of IJsbrand van Diemerbroeck in a plague outfit
Another engraving by Johannn Fussli Melchior (1677-1736)
"Sketch of a doctor of Marseilles clad in cordovan leather equipped
with a nose-case packed with plague-repelling smoking material.
With the wand he is to feel the pulse." Robert Fletcher, probably around 1721
"A tragedy of the Great Plague of Milan in 1630"
Marking Stones depicting plague doctors, Mur de la Peste in Provence
This wall was built to stop the plague from the Marseille area
Plague doctore from Marseilles, France, 1720.
Artwork is based on one from 'De La Peste observe en Egypte' (1840)
by the French physician Antoine Barthelemy Clot (1793-186
Beak Doctor costume 1720, from the book
"Renaissance and Reformation" by James Patrick - 2007
Raymond Crawfurd, Plague and pestilence in literature and art, Oxford 1914
A physician wearing a plague preventive costume in Marseille, 1720 (but probably 1819?)
l’Encyclopédie Alpha, numéro du 3 septembre 1969, entrée « Epidémie »
Histoire de la médecine, Jean Starobinski, 1962
Plague doctor costumes at Marseille...
1720
1819
China, 20th century. Doctors' protective costume used during,
an outbreak of pneumonic plague, Manchuria, 1910-1911
German Museum of Medical History in Ingolstadt
beaked mask -1750
Anagoria, Berlin - Deutsches Historisches Museum
Comparisons...
Protective Clothing of Doctors and Others Who Visit Plague Houses.
Illustration of Doctor Francois Chicoyneau (1672-1752)
from Der Pestarzt, during the plague of Marseilles in 1720
Germanisches National museum, Munich, Germany
Comparisons...
historical print of a plague doctor
artist and date unknown
A physician dressed in protective plague costume.
Line engraving after Jean-Jacques Manget (1652-1742)
'Traité de la peste', Geneva 1721, vol I.
left: plague doctor from Marseilles, by Johannn Fussli Melchior (1677-1736)
Right: A tragedy of the great plague of Milan in 1630 by Robert Fletcher (189
with an illustration of IJsbrand van Diemerbroeck in a plague outfit
Another engraving by Johannn Fussli Melchior (1677-1736)
"Sketch of a doctor of Marseilles clad in cordovan leather equipped
with a nose-case packed with plague-repelling smoking material.
With the wand he is to feel the pulse." Robert Fletcher, probably around 1721
"A tragedy of the Great Plague of Milan in 1630"
Marking Stones depicting plague doctors, Mur de la Peste in Provence
This wall was built to stop the plague from the Marseille area
Plague doctore from Marseilles, France, 1720.
Artwork is based on one from 'De La Peste observe en Egypte' (1840)
by the French physician Antoine Barthelemy Clot (1793-186
Beak Doctor costume 1720, from the book
"Renaissance and Reformation" by James Patrick - 2007
Raymond Crawfurd, Plague and pestilence in literature and art, Oxford 1914
A physician wearing a plague preventive costume in Marseille, 1720 (but probably 1819?)
l’Encyclopédie Alpha, numéro du 3 septembre 1969, entrée « Epidémie »
Histoire de la médecine, Jean Starobinski, 1962
Plague doctor costumes at Marseille...
1720
1819
China, 20th century. Doctors' protective costume used during,
an outbreak of pneumonic plague, Manchuria, 1910-1911
Aesculape, by Benjamin Bord, Volume 22, 1932
International Society of the History of Medicine.
Wellcome Library, London...
Plague doctor: ein Kleydung under den Todt.
Costume d'un Medecin de Lazaret de Marseille en 1720
'Costume d'un chirurgien quarantenaire du Lazaret de Marseille, en 1819.'
Plague doctors costume 'Costume d'un penitent a Sur, canton des Grisons (Suisse)
(Costume of a penitent in Sur, Graubünden)
Costume d'un Medecin de Lazaret de Marseille en 1720
'Costume d'un chirurgien quarantenaire du Lazaret de Marseille, en 1819.'
Plague doctors costume 'Costume d'un penitent a Sur, canton des Grisons (Suisse)
(Costume of a penitent in Sur, Graubünden)
more museum props and reconstructions
Statue representing Dr George Rae (a plague doctor during the 1645
outbreak of the plague in Edinburgh) at the Mary King's Close visitor attraction.
Eyam Plague Village Museum
Zurich Museum of Medicine
Steno Museum, Aarhus, Denmark
Lower Saxony State Museum
Museum Burg Linn
Kasseler Museum für Sepulkralkultur, Germany
"Reformation und Ruhrgebiet" Exhibition, 2015
Martin Luther Forum, Gladbeck, Germany
Miniature Replicas of Costumes Worn to Ward Off Plague
Pasteur Institute in Paris. France
One of the sixteen dioramas in the World's Fair,
at the Museum of Science and Industry, November 02, 1938
(Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)
Museo dell’isola del Lazzaretto Nuovo.
Courtesy Andrew Hilson https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/beak-doctors-0
Leprosy Museum, Bergen, Norway
https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelj-siegel/333690441/
Costume by Paul Garside
http://paul-rosenkavalier.deviantart.com/art/Plague-Doctor-552725619
http://paul-rosenkavalier.deviantart.com/art/Plague-Doctor-s-Hood-552726071
outbreak of the plague in Edinburgh) at the Mary King's Close visitor attraction.
Eyam Plague Village Museum
Zurich Museum of Medicine
Steno Museum, Aarhus, Denmark
Lower Saxony State Museum
Museum Burg Linn
Kasseler Museum für Sepulkralkultur, Germany
"Reformation und Ruhrgebiet" Exhibition, 2015
Martin Luther Forum, Gladbeck, Germany
Miniature Replicas of Costumes Worn to Ward Off Plague
Pasteur Institute in Paris. France
One of the sixteen dioramas in the World's Fair,
at the Museum of Science and Industry, November 02, 1938
(Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)
Museo dell’isola del Lazzaretto Nuovo.
Courtesy Andrew Hilson
https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/beak-doctors-0
Leprosy Museum, Bergen, Norway
https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelj-siegel/333690441/Costume by Paul Garside
http://paul-rosenkavalier.deviantart.com/art/Plague-Doctor-552725619 http://paul-rosenkavalier.deviantart.com/art/Plague-Doctor-s-Hood-552726071"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"
The Beak Doctors, by Dr. Nathaniel Hodges - 1672
