Der Doctor Schnabel Von Rom

Plague doctors were usually inexperienced physicians, hired by towns, who treated patients with bubonic plague.  

A famous doctor whose advice on how to prevent the plague still has some validity was Nostradamus. He adviced the removal of infected corpses, getting fresh air and drinking clean water.  Other famous plague doctors were Giovanni Ventura whom the city of Pavia contracted in 1479 and the Irish physician, Niall O Glacáin (1563-1653) who earned deep respect in Spain, France and Italy for his bravery in treating numerous people with the plague.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, some doctors wore a beak-like masks filled with aromatic items designed to protect them from putrid air, which according to the miasmatic theory of disease was seen as the cause of infections. 

Copper engraving of Doctor Schnabel, circa 1656, by Paulus Fürst.  A plague of a  doctor in 17^th Century Rome with a satirical poem.  The German title translates as Doctor Beak of Rome and depicts a plague doctor in his costume.  The engraving features a satirical Latin/German macaronic poem (‘Vos Creditis, als eine Fabel, / quod scribitur vom Doctor Schnabel’) roughly meaning "a funny tale is disclosed, / by a doctor with a big nose."