The only contemporary reference to De Lorme’s alleged invention comes from an often inaccurate biographical account, published in 1682 by Michel de Saint Martin. De Lorme’s own writings, however, do not mention any mask or other kinds of protection for plague doctors. That year, so the story goes, Charles de Lorme (1584-1678), personal physician to various members of the French royal household, invented the mask. The myth of the plague doctor mask dates its origin Muratori recommended a gown, preferably made of leather or, in its absence, waxed silk or taffeta, and then mentioned that that “some sometimes have covered their face with a mask, or bautta, to which they added two crystal eyes” In 1714, he published On the Management of Plague in which he discussed the protective equipment that doctors and surgeons assisting plague patients should wear. One of the earliest mentions of masks is in the work of the Italian scholar Ludovico Muratori. Protective masks started to appear in the seventeenth century. It is possible that they protected themselves with cloths impregnated with scented substances, which they kept near their mouth. Medieval plague doctors did not use any mask. If you browse the web, you will find websites dedicated to the history of Venetian masks that claim that the plague doctor mask differs from all others because it was not just a costume but a real protective equipment used by doctors in time of plague epidemics. When you think of a plague doctor you most likely picture in your mind someone wearing a bird-like beak mask, similar - if not the identical - to the Venetian masks that populate many window shops in Venice.
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