What is a Plague Doctor - Taking a Peek Behind the Mask

There’s no mistaking it when you see it. It’s horrifying and mesmerizing at the same time. The shape is unmistakable, but it leaves so much unanswered. You cannot see the person beneath the robes. You cannot read the expression behind the glass eyes. You are left wondering whether the figure has come to help or whether its arrival means it is already too late.

What is this robed figure? A plague doctor.

But what is a plague doctor? The plague doctor has always fascinated me. It sits somewhere between history, folklore, and something almost otherworldly. 

Come with me as we take a peek behind the mask of the plague doctor.  

What is a Plague Doctor?

The years of plagues were unsettling to say the least. You couldn’t see it, and you could only hope it didn’t come for you.

During the 14th century, the Black Death plundered Europe, with estimates as high as 50 million dead. In the 17th century, plagues hit Europe hard and became recurrent. The most severe occurred in 1575 and 1630, wiping out a third of the population.

Enter plague doctors. Plague doctors were contracted by governments to see infected patients during an epidemic. They were often inexperienced, often with no medical training at all.

Their contract detailed their responsibilities and pay, including obligating them to visit the neighborhoods hit hardest. These were usually the poorest of patients who wouldn’t otherwise be able to pay. They also had non-medical duties, including: recording deaths, witnessing wills, performing autopsies, and keeping journals.

In this interesting article, you can read about three different accounts of plague doctors in Historical Plague Doctors —Castle. You just might see them in a whole different light.

A Costume Born Out of Death

The plague doctor came from a time when people were trying to understand an illness they could not see and did not know how to stop. 

It was believed that the disease was carried through bad air. It’s why plague doctors wore protective clothing from head to toe, to isolate them and prevent direct contact with the bodies of plague victims.

Some believed the disease was carried by malevolent spirits, and the outfit would physically prevent spirits from entering the body and frighten them away.

The costume made fear of the unknown both visible and physical. It may have been protection built on misunderstanding, but it was the best they had.

What You Saw

Plague doctors were known for their outfits, credited to the 17th-century French Court physician, Charles de Lorme.

It consisted of a long, waxed coat or gown that sat over leggings connected to boots, gloves, a hat, and an oddly beaked mask. It was mostly made out of leather.

The most ominous and mesmerizing part of a plague doctor’s outfit is the mask. The mask covered the face in the shape of an oval with two open round holes for eyes sealed by two pieces of glass.

The lower part of the mask had a daunting hooked nose resembling a long beak with two horizontal cuts on both sides.

Plague doctors would carry a wand or staff to examine or undress the patient without touching them. It helped measure what was considered a safe distance from infected individuals.

Doctors would fill the beak with strong-smelling herbs and flowers such as lavender and mint, or myrrh, or sponges soaked with vinegar or camphor. The idea was that it would protect them against the disease they believed was carried through bad-smelling air. 

The plague doctor’s outfit not only became a sign of death, but morphed into an iconic symbol we all recognize today.

From Doctor to Symbol - What the Outfit Became

From the Venetian Carnival to the theater, Halloween costumes, movies, and video games, it’s extremely likely that you’re familiar with the plague doctor.

Even during its own time, the plague doctor’s beaked mask became the subject of jokes and cartoons. The most famous illustration by the German engraver Gerhart Altzenbach was published in 1656. This satirical artwork depicts a plague doctor who does nothing but terrify people and take their money. A later publication of this image embellished details of the plague doctor’s outfit and included a satirical poem.

The plague doctor’s outfit may have started out to be protective, but it morphed into something completely different. It became popular as a costume in the Venetian Carnival, paving the way to become a symbol in helping us manage the fear attached to what the plague doctor represented - death in disguise.

Enter 2020

The 2020 pandemic saw the reemergence of the plague doctor. It flooded the internet. Social media was filled with memes, fan art, and protest costumes of beaked masks and dark robes. The whole unsettling silhouette of the plague doctor was everywhere at once.

In 2020, the plague doctor became something more than dark humor. Once again, it gave people a way to express what was hard to put into words: fear and helplessness.

What Do You Fear?

Why do figures born of suffering become objects of fascination rather than something we forget? 

For myself, the plague doctor has never just been a symbol of death. It's a figure that stands in the doorway between fear and curiosity. Is it frightening, yes. But it is also deeply human. Beneath the mask is a story of people trying to create order out of chaos. We fear what we do not know or cannot see. 

It’s why these subjects appear in my art. Figures like the plague doctor cultivate history and folklore over time.

If you’re as intrigued by the plague doctor as I am, then I have just the piece of art for you: an evocative piece that combines the historical significance of the plague doctor with its dark beauty. 

You can find it here, among many other medieval-inspired pieces, to show you there is nothing to fear in the dark. Even in the dark, there is beauty.