Physicians' Protective Garb to Ward-off Plague

"Protective" garb, worn by physicians, to keep themselves free from plague. 

According to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's web page on plague: 

"Outfits of this type, worn by medieval physicians and made of cloth or leather, were uniquely associated with the plague in Europe. In addition to serving as a probable physical barrier to the plague pathogen, the suits had symbolic significance.

"The ability of birds to travel between earth and sky may have represented mediation between the earth and heaven. The costume's bird-like beak contained spices and vinegar-soaked cloth to mask the stench of death and decay and make the physicians' work less unbearable."

Credits

Physician garb, 17th-century.  On display at a museum in Jena (a university city in central Germany).