El Medico dea Peste (The Plague Doctor)

One of the worst scourges for the city of Venice was without any doubt the Plague, which struck the city on several occasions.

Because of this the "Plague Doctor" isn’t a real mask but was a disguise used by local plague doctors who went on visits wearing this strange costume to people afflicted with plague.

The costume itself is quite particular: the doctor wore a tunic of pure linen or waxen cloth and gave him the appearance of a large bird (more than anything else, he was considered to be like a mournful vulture…).

 He wore spectacles on the mask and furthermore always had his trusty staff with which he removed the clothes of plague-victims, thinking that in this way the terrible epidemic would not bring him any harm.