These mask “slackers” were fined or even sent to prison. Today, the beaked plague doctor mask still appears in Venetian carnival costumes but is otherwise retired, while the concept of masking up ...

In Venice, a particular plague epidemic ... unsure about keeping infected people together. The famous beaked plague doctor mask wasn’t widely used until the 17th Century, but Venetians were ...

Presented with a bone-white Venetian beak mask (the kind favored by plague doctors in the Renaissance), you’re invited to gawk, shame-free, at whatever you see, to rifle through drawers ...