Plague doctors - in the 17th century

The plague doctors were European men who specialised in treat­ing plague victims, at least from the Black Death (1348-9) on. These doctors were public servants hired by villages, towns, or cities when a plague struck.

The primary duties of a plague doctor were to treat and cure vict­ims of any plague, and to bury the dead. Plague doctors were also responsible for tallying the number of casualties in public rec­ords and testifying to the wills of the dead. Plague doctors could even be asked to conduct autopsies, to better understand the plague.

As plague doctors were in contact with victims of a fatal dis­ease, they were at grave risk of catching the plague themselves, and had to protect themselves. So the plague doctor mask became one of the most recognisable symbols of the past pandemics. But while plague doctors have been pursuing their trade since the Middle Ages, it was only during the C17th that they started getting smarter.

In 1619 the idea of a plague suit and beaked mask was invented by Dr Charles de l’Orme, chief physician of 3 French kings (including Louis XIV), and of Gaston d'Orléans, son of Marie de Médici. His design was based around miasma theory, the contemporary theory that ill­ness spread through deadly rising vapours. By the time the 1656 Plague struck, trag­ically killing almost half a million people in Rome and Naples, his prototype was improved and used routinely by all plague doctors. In fact by 1656 plague doct­ors were actually mandated, by the con­tracts they signed with mun­icipal coun­cils, to wear the outfits.

The suit minimised exposure of the skin with a long over-coat. The neckline of this overcoat was tucked behind the plague doctor’s mask and extended all the way down to the feet. The entire piece of clothing was waxed with suet, to repel the plague from the doctor, or draw it away from the victim. In order to protect the lower body from infection, l’Orme’s suit had a pair of goat leather breeches beneath the overcoat. And leather gloves protected the hands.

A wide brimmed hat was worn on the plague doctor’s head, made of leather to ind­icate that its wearer was a doctor. Although the hat served a sym­b­olic function, it may have provided some protection by keeping some bacteria away.

Colour copper engraving of Doctor Schnabel/Beak, by Paul Fürst, c1656.
Note wax-canvas garment, hat, large crystal glasses, gloves, boots and cane.
PDR

Sincet l’Orme’s plague suit was to protect from miasma, it was uncertain how effective the outfit could ever be. Clearly many plague doctors died from their patients’ plague, so it was likely that l’Orme’s invention did little to protect the doctors, [except to offer some protection against germs].

The plague doctor mask was bird-like in shape, with a long beak and the round eye-holes covered with clear glass. Some people believed that the plague was spread by birds. So the disease might have been removed from a patient by transferring it to the garment. More likely the mask had a utilit­arian function, as the beak was packed with strong, aromatic spices like mint or rose petals. These were meant to ward off the dis­ease because people believed miasma spread the disease. 

In any case the plague mask became well known because of its use in theatre. The beaked physician figure became a character (Medico della Pesta) in commedia dell’arte-professional theatre and the mask is still worn in the Carnival of Venice. Plague doctors were such a common sight in Ven­ice carnivals that this symbol of mort­ality became central in the annual cele­brat­ion of life.

And the plague doctor carried a wooden cane, for several reas­ons. He could use the cane to examine his patient without touching, take a patient’s pulse or to remove his clothing. And to issue in­st­ruct­ions eg commanding the use of urine baths, purgatives or stimul­ants. The cane could also be used to in­d­ic­ate to the vic­t­im’s family members where to move the patient or body. Fin­ally the cane could be used to protect the doctor against patient assaults.

See a plague doctor image that was a painted coat of arms belonging to Swiss Dr Theodore Zwinger III (1658–1724). He was a descendant of the very knowledgeable Swiss Dr Theodore Zwinger I (1533–88), the humanist who wrote Theatrum Humanae Vitae.

Theodore Zwinger III: coat of arms with portrait, c1656
The Public Domain Review

Eventually it was learned that the plagues were caused by bacteria that could be transmitted from animals to humans (eg flea bites) and inhalation of infectious droplets from coughing people with pneumonic plague. Still, I imagine that terrible memories of the plagues over the centuries are being relived in Italian cities during the current coronavirus pandemic.