Question 1

During the annual carnival in Venice, one of the most common masks is the bird mask pictured above with a massive beak. The overall costume is usually credited to Charles de Lorme, a physician who catered to the medical needs of many European royals during the 17th century, including King Louis XIII and Gaston d'Orléans, son of Marie de Médici. He described an outfit that included a coat covered in scented wax, breeches connected to boots, a tucked-in shirt, and a hat and gloves made of goat leather.

Their headgear was particularly unusual: ___X____ ____Y____ wore spectacles, de Lorme continued, and a mask with a nose “half a foot long, shaped like a beak, filled with perfume with only two holes, one on each side near the nostrils, but that can suffice to breathe and carry along with the air one breathes the impression of the [herbs] enclosed further along in the beak.”

Identify the profession:  ___X____ ____Y____.

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Answer: 

Plague Doctors

The mask was intended to protect the doctor from miasma. In the times before the germ theory of disease, physicians believed that the plague spread through poisoned air that could create an imbalance in a person’s humours, or bodily fluids.

Question 2

Perhaps the most iconic mask of the current era - Warner Brothers sells almost a 100,000 of these each year (more masks are probably sold globally, but WB only gets royalty for about 100K of these). 

David Lloyd, the artist who originally drew the mask for a graphic novel, attended the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011 in order to see his design making the leap into real life. “The _____ _____ mask has become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny - and I’m happy with people using it,” he told the BBC.“

Identify the name of the mask. For bonus points, identify the original graphic novel in which the mask first appeared. 

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Answer: 

Guy Fawkes Mask (from V for Vendetta)

Question 3

Before Netflix’s international hit: Money Heist (La casa de papel) made Salvador Dali masks all the rage (and a staple costume of every Halloween), there was another mask made in the 70s that topped the charts for best-selling masks in the US decade over decade.

A regular fixture of heist movies - the crooks always wore it - this mask has a classically-caricatured nose and was even worn by Bob Dylan on stage in the 70s. Identify this mask. 

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Answer: 

Richard Nixon Mask

Question 4

Originally intended for industrial and other specialised workers - masks and respirators became a common household item during the pandemic. N95, P100, KF94 and KN95 all circulated in the market over the last few years. 

The numeric part measures the percentage of particles the masks can filter. KF is the South Korean variant. KN is Chinese. N, R and P measure the resistance towards particular types of substances. Identify the substance?

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Answer: 

Oil. The masks prevent the user from inhaling oil-based substances. The rating is as follows: 

N is not resistant to oil-based substances. R is slightly more resistant to oil-based substances and P is considered oil-proof.