Venetian masks, mask plague doctor's story

The doctor of the plague (Medico Della plague)

After 1350, culture in Europe changed dramatically one of dark morbidity. Art represented this pessimism with representations of death. The darkness was caused by the prevalence of black plague. Nobody knew how contain or prevent the onslaught of the black plague and a lot of the prevention/remedies supposed caused more problems. When people believed that cats were in cahoots with the devil, this has led to cats killed en masse. If the prejudice had not existed the rodent population reportedly guarded by cats, reduce the spread of flea infested plague from host to host i.e. rats.

It is in this backdrop that the plague of Della Medico (plague doctor) came into play. Many believe that plague doctor was created by the famous French doctor Charles Lorme who adopted the mask and the suit while dealing with the plague. The costume was composed of:

? a wide hat worn near head who identified that you were a doctor, a lot of people the same as today hats identifying different professions e.g.: soldiers, police, etc. At the time that the plague took confirm handful of doctors fled leaving just volunteer to help. The wide brim can also used partial shielding of infection.

? primitive a gas of a bird beak mask. This is a common belief that cholera was transmitted by "bad air" and that plague doctor mask would plague victim and apparel deals plague doctor. The mask also included red glass eyepieces that bearer free from African horse sickness. OCI was often filled with aromatic herbs to mask the smell of corpses unearthed, sputum and rupture bouboules on victims. Herbs also acted to master the "bad air" they thought produced the plague.

Cane wood of ? A, has been used both to lead the family members to move the patient or to examine a body without affect them directly.

? A black coat was worn reclining in beak at the neck mask in order to minimize the exposure of the skin, it fell right at the foot. The dress was then covered tallow or wax that could pull the skin of the victim, plague it trap in tallow or push it with wax.

Although at the time people didn't know what caused the plague, they still new that come into contact with victims increases the risk of contracting the disease.

It is not known magnitude plague physicians were, or the effectiveness of their treatment of the disease was, but it is likely that, while offering protection to the wearer, they actually contributed to the spread of the disease, acting without knowing as a carrier for flea infected to move from host to host.