Plague doctors, or at least images of plague doctors, are having a bit of a cultural moment again, roughly 300 years after their actual heyday.

Why plague doctors wore those strange beaked masks In the 17th century, people believed these outfits could purify poisonous air. They were wrong.

Believing the plague spread through miasma, or bad air, doctors wore elaborate costumes with beak-like masks filled with aromatic substances to protect themselves.

Some plague doctors may have worn spooky-looking beak mask costumes to prevent infection during disease epidemics.

This is a 17th-century German or Austrian plague doctor mask, from the collection of the Deutches Historisches Museum. (Anagoria/GNU Free Documentation License) Since the onset of the pandemic ...

Doctors are said to have embraced this look, thanks in part to the Black Death, which ravaged the Middle East, Asia, and Europe during the 14th century.

The Plague Doctor’s eerie beak mask was designed to protect against “evil” smells thought to cause disease. But the truth behind this creepy costume will shock you! Discover the medically ...

While the plague doctor is a figure from the past symbolized through Venetian masks, in many ways new technology has served as its contemporary medical surrogate.