Plague doctor tattoo. Tattoo of doctors' abbreviations - the bitter medicine of the "May" decrees

Nowadays, no one can be surprised by having a tattoo on their body. However, there are certain tattoos that stand out from the rest. It’s impossible to say for sure what exactly makes these images so special, but they delight some people and make others shudder in horror. Examples of such tattoos include images of death, skeletons, monsters and much more. This also includes the plague doctor tattoo, which is quite popular among young people today.

History of origin

Due to certain historical obligations, the plague doctor tattoo is quite common only in Europe. For the rest of the world it does not carry any meaning. The thing is that the Middle Ages for large European cities were marked by a monstrous epidemic of the bubonic plague, from which a huge number of people died every day. The level of development of medicine at that time was so low that people could die from a common cold, not to mention anything about more serious diseases.

It was in those conditions that plague doctors appeared. Their main duties included cauterizing buboes and bleeding infected people. Due to their constant close contact with lepers, plague doctors were not allowed to contact many people, which forced them to live in isolation.

It is quite understandable that such dangerous work had to be accompanied by special clothing. Although there were many variants of such attire, the only widely recognized costume in modern times is a long black cloak, wide-brimmed hat, pants, gloves, boots and a special plague doctor mask. The most distinctive feature of the latter was the presence of a bird's beak, which was supposed to scare away the disease from doctors.

Meaning

As you know, not a single tattoo is a simple image, since each of them has a certain meaning. The meaning of the plague doctor tattoo is largely determined by the above historical events. Before describing the meaning itself, it is worth pointing out that the image can only be found on the body of very brave people who are not afraid to show others their special attitude towards life. That is why such tattoos can be seen equally on both men and women.

So, there are two main options for the meaning of a plague doctor tattoo:

1. Fatalism. By applying this image to his body, a person emphasizes that he is completely at the mercy of fate. Wherever life takes the owner of such a tattoo, he will calmly go with the flow with the confidence that everything has long been predetermined.
2. Challenge of death. Since the plague doctors themselves were on the brink of life and death every day, it is believed that the presence of such a tattoo means that a person not only is not afraid of death, but is also ready to challenge it.

In addition to the above, you need to understand that each person can interpret the meaning of a plague doctor tattoo for themselves differently. After all, even one added detail can make a big difference.

Place and style

Since the image has an oblong shape, it is best to print it on the thigh, forearm and shoulder. Moreover, these are the places that are the most painless for tattooing. However, the image can also occur on the back. In this case, the tattoo looks more massive, but getting it will be quite painful.

When it comes to tattoo style, realism is practically the only possible option. It is this style that allows you to achieve maximum image recognition. To do this, however, you need to find a very good professional master who can apply a high-quality image to your body.

Separately, it is worth noting that neither the location nor the style of the image in any way affects the meaning of the plague doctor tattoo.

Conclusion

Today you can find absolutely any tattoo, from an inscription on a toe to an image of death on the back. That's why a plague doctor tattoo shouldn't come as much of a surprise. However, she evokes admiration and horror at the same time. The meaning of the plague doctor tattoo is explained by historical events that led to the appearance of the doctors themselves.

The Plague Doctor is a fairly famous figure in history. His duty was to treat the plague. The doctors were dressed in a special suit with a mask. The mask had a menacing appearance, because instead of a nose there was something vaguely reminiscent of a bird's beak. Mysticism was traced not only in the specifics of the doctor's work, but also in the presence of death, since the mortality rate during the epidemic was very high.

The plague doctor had a huge impact on the development of European culture. The image of the doctor was used in Italian comedy. also owes its appearance to the doctor's mask. The headdress with a beak gave the doctor the appearance of a deity and was intended to act as a talisman against the spread of the disease. The beak really played a protective role, because it was filled with herbs that made breathing much easier in contaminated areas. The mask had special glass inserts that protected the eyes.

The Doctor has always been considered a harbinger of death. This is due to the fact that the plague was not treated at that time, and the appearance of a doctor in a special frightening suit indicated an illness, the outcome of which always ended the same.

The image of a plague doctor has also become widespread in the art of body painting. The meaning of the plague doctor tattoo is fatalism, destiny. The person who puts on such a tattoo is absolutely sure that there is no escape from fate and that what has been decided will definitely come true.

Tattoos became widespread in Europe and America. For eastern countries, the use of this image is not typical. The tattoo is suitable for people who have a thirst for outrageousness and a desire to be different from everyone else. It looks great on the shoulder, chest or back. Some interesting designs of plague doctor tattoos are presented in our gallery. The tattoo can be done in either color or black and white style.

Photo of plague doctor tattoo

Sketches of plague doctor tattoos

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Elena Letuchaya's tattoos

Tattoo on the forearm realism, photo from: https://www.instagram.com/p/BsmAUG0lOLV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The plague doctor, whose image is widespread in the tattoo culture of Europe and America. The symbol has a unique meaning associated with periods of deadly epidemics.

This sketch came to the pantheon of CIS images relatively recently. It began appearing in the albums of tattoo artists around 2012. So what is the secret of the attractiveness of a frightening and mysterious image?

Plague doctor tattoo meaning

To better understand the meaning of a tattoo, it is worth turning to the history of the appearance of the image. In the mid-14th century, a terrible disease claimed more than 25 million people. The disease broke out due to climate change, overpopulation and lack of sanitation. Medicine of that period could not answer how to deal with the epidemic. The black plague claimed the lives of entire settlements in weeks and days.

To fight the disease, teams of “plague doctors” were created. They provided medical assistance and burned homes and the remains of the dead. In the minds of people of that period, the plague was a living and intelligent creature.

That is why the sight of the orderlies was supposed to scare away the deadly disease. It is worth noting the fact that in medieval Europe there was a strange artistic perception of the environment.

Under the pressure of general hysteria, the physician Charles de Lorme in 1619 created the first plague doctor mask. It was a cross between the Venetian Nose mask and an interpretation of a crow's head. Since crows are scavengers by nature, the comparison seems logical.

In addition to its threatening appearance, the mask served practical functions. A mixture of vinegar, wormwood and strong-smelling herbs was poured into the beak. The fumes acted as protection against miasma from diseased bodies. The design can be called the first respirator.

In addition to the mask, the uniform included a long leather cloak, a buff covering the area from the collarbones to the face. The equipment was complemented by tight leather pants, heavy boots, high gloves and hats. All elements had to be sewn from waxed leather or rough canvas soaked in wax.

In the views of contemporaries, the plague doctor is a symbol of fatalism. In his image lies inevitability, fate and impending disaster. However, thanks to the development of the image in the culture of the plague doctor tattoo, its meaning has increased. The interpretation of the symbol was largely influenced by the gaming industry and media.

Tattoo on hand, photo from: https://www.instagram.com/p/BlxEFvAl5GR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Tattoo symbolism:

• black humor;
• unreasonable optimism;
• evil irony;
• victory over death;
• son of death;
• order amidst chaos;
• sarcastic attitude towards danger;
• complex nature;
• "not of this world";
• fun amid the apocalypse;
• gothic way of thinking;
• a sober outlook on life.

Tattoo ma'am began to develop on Russian imageboards. The occasion was a canary costume made by St. Petersburg artist Nikolai Kopeikin for his daughter for a matinee.

The strange mask was recognized by domestic users as a plague doctor. By 2012, the image became part of tattoo culture, filled with unique semantic content. It was he who influenced the interpretation of the image not only in Europe, but also in America.

The meaning of tattoos for girls

The plague doctor tattoo is popular among girls whose personality is classified as a Balzac type. These are attentive observers who approach life with a healthy dose of skepticism. You can recognize a potential tattoo bearer by good manners, a neat appearance and a balanced character. In communication they prefer black humor, which is most often funny.

The meaning of tattoos for women:

• durability;
• bravery;
• bright personality;
• a sober assessment of the situation;
• respect for life and death;
• dark humor;
• strategy;
• irresistible charm;
• wit.

Girls' tattoos are individual in nature. Each wearer has a distinct personality, which is expressed in the tattoo. Style and form are selected carefully, each element carries a meaning. Thanks to the female audience, the image of the plague doctor received more than 1000 variations and influenced the formation of tattoos on two continents.

The meaning of tattoos for men

The Shepherd of the Plague is a tireless healer with high spirits. This is a popular tattoo whose meaning for men is associated with sarcasm and death. Men are more conservative in their style. They stick to traditional and historical reconstructions.

Interpretation of the symbol for men:

• divine revelation;
• Gothic;
• bitter irony;
• indifference to worldly things;
• sarcasm;
• sensory perception of the world;
• the power of fate;
• order and law;
• bitterness of parting;
• balance of life and death;
• loyalty to ideals;
• diligence;
• inquisitive mind;
• a misunderstood genius;
• talented inventor.

If we characterize the carrier from the point of view of socionics, this is a typical Dreiser. He is efficient, pedantic and at the same time treats any event in his life with peculiar humor. Men's tattoos look like works of art. They are full of signs and meaning, distinguished by attention to detail.

Style selection

The plague doctor is a universal image that looks good in both realism and graphics. A mask with a beak is ideal for trash polka, new school, neo-traditional or graphic.

Black and white, blackwork or traditional techniques will enhance the sense of fate. Old school, Chicano, engraving or baroque will help to enhance the share of black humor. Realism is considered the leader for the plague doctor.

Place for tattoo

The area of ​​the arms, back and legs can reveal the full depth of the image. The drawing has no restrictions on the area of ​​application. It can be hit on the shin or thigh. In this case, the gender or age of the future owner does not matter.

A sketch in the author's style close to the best one to print on the forearm, the side area from the line of the ribs to the waist. Girls prefer to have a doctor tattoo on their shoulder, forearm or shoulder blade. Among men, it is common to apply a pattern to the calf.

As an image of a plague doctor, the sketch expresses the emotional values ​​of the owner. Think about your desire to get such a contrasting tattoo. Figure out what attracts you to him. This will help to collect as many facts as possible, which the tattoo artist will use in drawing up the design.

Do not take ready-made works, since copying the image of a plague doctor is considered bad form. Photos from the Internet can only be used as an illustration of the style in which you want the tattoo.

Video - plague doctor tattoo, photo gallery

The meaning of the Plague Doctor tattoo - photo examples of ready-made tattoo designs

Interesting, meaning and significance of the “Plague Doctor” tattoo

Today, more and more often you can find tattoos with a mystical meaning on the bodies of young people and girls, which is what a tattoo with the image of the Plague Doctor is.

Historical reference

The Plague Doctor costume was first worn in the 13th century, but it gained its greatest popularity in the 15th century. This period of the Middle Ages is known for the fact that medicine was at a low level, people died from simple diseases, and charlatans skillfully took advantage of this for their own purposes by wearing these costumes. They were originally intended for healers who treated various ailments of the time, the most common of which was the bubonic plague. It should be noted that no one was finally cured of this disease; there were only attempts to cauterize and cut out the buboes. Basically, hundreds of people died from the disease.

The costume itself was a completely closed robe. On his head was worn a semblance of a helmet with a bird's beak - the personification of the ancient Egyptian god Thoth. The beak protected the person wearing the mask, since at its very end a mixture of special medicinal herbs was collected that prevented infection through contact with a sick person. In addition to the beak, there was another oddity on the helmet - eyes made of red glass. At that time it was believed that red glass could protect against all diseases. This is a double-edged sword, since the glass really protected, just not with its color - during the bloodletting manipulation, it did not allow blood to get on the skin of the face and eyes. Below you could see a suit made of waxed leather, the trousers were tapered, the cloak completely covered the entire body, its length reached the ankles. In addition, the costume included leather gloves, boots and a wide-brimmed hat.

Photo examples:

Tattoo meaning

The mystical image of the Plague Doctor wins the hearts of many tattoo lovers. Sketches are made not only for boys and men, but also for the female half of the population. There is an idea of ​​the two most accurate meanings of this tattoo:

1. Everything is in the hands of fate. This means that people believe that nothing in this world happens for nothing, that we are all hostages of fate, not circumstances, and that we should not plan or think about the future, but just go with the flow. In other words, these are people who promote fatalism.
2. Death. This meaning suggests that those daredevils who were not afraid to get a tattoo in the form of the Plague Doctor are, as it were, challenging death, are not afraid of the consequences and encourage everyone around them not to be afraid of it, but to take it for granted.

Place for tattoo

The Plague Doctor design requires a lot of space, so the main places for a tattoo are the shoulder, forearm, thigh or shin. In addition, in these places there is the greatest accumulation of subcutaneous fat, which means that the procedure for applying the pattern will be the most painless. But there are cases when artists are forced to tattoo in places closer to the bones, for example, in the area of ​​the ribs, ankles, which brings painful sensations to the client.

Sketch

Nowadays, on the Internet you can find a huge number of sketches depicting the Plague Doctor, both from old sources and in modern interpretation. They are rich in small elements, thin and precise lines, small details, which makes the tattoo more complex, and most likely it will be unlikely to be completed in one session. You can also find both a black and white version and a color one, although the Plague Doctor was originally depicted in black and white. Therefore, be patient and time, and the result will be justified.

Watch the video:

Text prepared by: kriskriskristin (Gumenyuk Kristina Sergeevna)

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The tattoo of a laid-off doctor is the doctor’s own bitter medicine. Optimization and healthcare reform became a response to the well-known “May” decrees of the President of the Russian Federation.

The head of state, in particular, set the task: a doctor’s salary should be twice the regional average. But it’s unlikely that anyone five years ago would have imagined that the Ministry of Health would try to achieve the planned indicators through financial maneuvers within the health care system itself. The May presidential decrees, as a result, were implemented in a barbaric way. Despite assurances about the success of healthcare reform that are regularly heard from officials, doctors themselves are not at all happy with what is happening. Three quarters of Russian doctors and nurses believe that optimization of healthcare actually leads to a decrease in the availability of healthcare services for the population. And the vast majority of health workers (92.7%) admit that due to the increased workload on hospital and clinic staff, the quality of their work is deteriorating. These are the main conclusions based on the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Independent Monitoring Foundation “Health”.

Plague doctor tattoo in English plague doctor - medieval doctor, historical period, pre-modern time, easily recognizable by its characteristic mask, similar to a bird's beak. This was part protective suit: In addition to the fact that the terrifying mask supposedly warded off disease (which was believed to be carried by birds), it was filled with medicinal herbs that protected the doctor from the stench of the plague, and those around him from the smell of garlic, which the doctor chewed for self-defense. Possible costume tattoo details a wax-soaked cloak, tight trousers, gloves, boots and a hat.

His job was prestigious and highly paid, although not conducive to contacts with the public - tattoo as an impulse to find oneself in new conditions.

Mystical, romantic-infernal external type of tattoo will have a noticeable influence on the views, attitude towards the problem of laying off doctors and culture modern healing in Russia, under healthcare understanding not so much medicine as such, but criticality health categories, problems of Russian medical qualifications, integrity of physical and emotional status, compensation high level of stress among the country's population.

Thanks to plague doctors the famous Venetian mask appeared, accentuated the idea of ​​healing as an art, as well as a regular character in the Italian " Commedia dell'arte».