Conversation

1) A Plague Doctor, from Jean-Jacques Manget, Traité de la peste (1721) 2) Doctor in plague costume during the plague epidemic of 1720 in Marseille. Drawing first published in 1826 in the Guide sanitaire des gouvernemens européens by Louis-Joseph-Marie Robert
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1) Jan van Grevenbroeck (1731-1807), Venetian doctor during the time of the plague. Pen, ink and watercolor on paper. 2) Black-and-white copper engraving of Doctor Schnabel [i.e Dr Beak], a plague doctor in 17th-c Rome, ca. 1656
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1) IJsbrand van Diemerbroeck, Dutch plague doctor 2) Satirical engraving by Johann Melchior Füssli of a doctor of Marseilles clad in cordovan leather equipped with a nose-case packed with plague-repelling smoking material. With the wand he is to feel the pulse
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Because the plague was deemed to be miasmic the pungent ingredients they would turn to in order to ward off the smells and "corrupted air" were pretty impressive. I know of vinegar and valerian, either of which in large doses can certainly have a clearing effect.
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