Pest Doctor - Graphite Melange Tote Bag

To protect themselves from "miasma" – the unhealthy odor believed to spread the plague – Italian and French doctors in the first half of the 17th century wore beaked masks, inside which aromatic herbs such as sage, rosemary, and lavender were placed. Even after the plague ceased, the figure of the doctor dressed in this way remained an iconic element of our culture, especially Venetian: it was revived at Carnival and in theater for comedies and tragedies, and its name semantically merged with many words in our Venetian language, even unexpected ones.

Mask of protection and icon of the Serenissima