Sick coat

Depiction of a leper in the Ribes Vikinger Museum in Ribe , ( Denmark )

An infirmary coat was an item of clothing worn by a person suffering from leprosy . The coat had to be worn as a sign of identification to warn healthy people. In addition to this visual warning signal, there were also acoustic warning signals; For example a warning rattle , a horn , a bell or a bell . A common costume consisted of the sick jacket (often white or black), a knee pants, a jacket , a big hat and white gloves.