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Comment by YeGoblynQueenne | Hacker News Reader

>> And, right in the middle of the frontispiece, there are two figures wandering the empty city. Their clothes identify them as plague doctors, with their characteristic beaked masks, containing herbs or sponges soaked in vinegar to filter the air.

Alternatively, they could be two people with long, pointy hoods stylized to point backwards.

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If you look at sharper prints of the frontispiece than the one LRB uses, they do look more like hoods or hennins than plague masks, in my opinion.

I took this photo of them from a 17C copy of Leviathan at the British Library: https://ibb.co/DGL4dJj

Edit: Not sure why the parent comment is being downvoted? They're making a completely legitimate observation.

on the other hand, there is something to be said for the decision to interpret the image in a way that makes it relevant to our times.

Thanks for the better picture! Very useful post.

Look like hoods to me. But, whatever works for the essay... The REAL mystery is what the two baseball batters are doing on the left side of the image.

> Alternatively, they could be two people with long, pointy hoods stylized to point backwards.

Do you have any examples of artwork from the 14th century showing people wearing long pointy hoods stylized to point backwards?