[Ansteorra] Plague Doctor's Mask Documentation?

[Casey Weed]

The most famous depiction is at the end of our period but it is by no means
the earliest:

>From 1656 we have the "Doctor of Rome" with every feature already fully
developed, mask, spectacles, wand, nails, robes... everything-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27601940@N05/2832992668

Images and cultural characters don't generally spring up fully formed like
this out of nowhere and the wikipedia article seems to support this, though
not pictorially-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beak_doctor_costumepurporting the use of
the phrase "beak doctor" to the 14th century.  It
conflicts with itself a bit in that it says the standardization of the
outfit happened in 1619 (well within the reach of our purported scope,
Shakespeare/Elizabeth/et al).

In my mind, the images we have of Death as a person in Durer and other
early 16th century examples along with many of Bosch's images of 'bird men'
more than justify earlier placement of this artifact.  From a utilitarian
function, keeping the smell of plague at bay so one could work with the
bodies is so common a need that speculating what the mask looked like is a
worthy area of experimentation, "backing up" from the more developed masks
of the 16th century.

You might pursue masks in general as a parallel; commedia del arte is
making it's push at the same time and doesn't spring up whole cloth either.



On Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 9:27 PM, ~*Rhiannon <ahuvabasyah at gmail.com> wrote:

> I am looking for documentation earlier than 17th century for a plague
> doctor's mask, similar if possible to the one on the right in this photo:
>
> http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vv9Olqy2BLs/Tq7g5l2fKwI/AAAAAAAABhA/LDXV0oowzi0/s1600/classic%2Bversus%2Briveted.jpg
>
> Or, if for some reason that link doesn't work, the plague doctor's mask at
> his main site, which is http://tombanwell.blogspot.com/
>
> I would appreciate any info.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rhiannon
> (cool SCA name pending)
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