[Ansteorra] Plague Doctor's Mask Documentation?

[Rose]

The idea of animals carrying diseases is based on germ theory, which wasn't really around until the late 1800's. Previously, people believed in the miasasmatic theory of illnesses, according to which the plague and other illnesses were caused by 'bad air'. The beak masks held smelly-good stuff, which was thought to act as a filter. So, early gas masks, lol. Also, I don't think that their design is any more intentionally reminiscent of diseased birds than our gas masks are intentially reminiscent of diseased insects.


-Rose the Obnoxious


 
*     *     *     *     *     *     * Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile. ~Hippocrates


>________________________________
> From: ~*Rhiannon <ahuvabasyah at gmail.com>
>To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org> 
>Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2012 9:10 AM
>Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] Plague Doctor's Mask Documentation?
> 
>Thank you for all the good leads, especially on Bosch and Durer.  (And I
>thought the troubling art of Salvador Dali was original ;)  I read
>somewhere that people thought the plague was brought or carried by birds,
>hence the birdlike mask of the doctors to "carry it away".  I can
>definitely see that theme in some of Bosch's art - the depictions of hell,
>etc. in period (the bird with the cooking pot on its head devouring
>people).  I don't plan on stopping till I reach the end of this.  Just
>hopefully not the end portrayed in the dancing death paintings ;)
>
>On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 6:42 AM, Casey Weed <seoseaweed at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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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