Plague Doctor

The Masked Mercy

The plague doctor of early modern Europe tended victims of epidemics in a long waxed coat and the infamous beaked mask, its hollow snout packed with herbs and spices to ward off the miasma then blamed for disease. Hired by towns to treat rich and poor alike, he counted the dead, witnessed wills, and stayed when others fled. Half physician and half harbinger, his ominous silhouette became the very face of the Black Death.