67.

68.

Coppia di orcioli farmaceutici
1575

67: h max 388 - Ø max 280 - Ø piede 134
Collezione privata, Toscana

68: h max 393 - Ø max 280 - Ø piede 134
Collezione privata, Toscana

Jar with egg-shaped body upon distinct base, short neck with widened border of a flat type; two dragonshaped handles placed at the largest point of the diameter and at the shoulder, short expanded cylindrical spout with studded attachment on the side of the vase. The form is typical of the Montelupo production for pharmacies between the 16th and 17th centuries (cf. Berti 1999, p. 429 no. 20; p. 431 no.

22) and, because of the presence of the spout, constitutes a sort of cross between the “mono-ansate” (one-handled) bottle (Idem, pp. 419-21, no. 1-6) used for containing relatively viscose liquids like syrups, and an electuary vase with no spout (Idem, pp. 422-27 no. 7- 18). The medication in the jar is, in fact, explained on the label placed under the oval figure as being “Sy[ropp]o di Luppoli s[olutivo]” (no. 67) and “Scorze di cedro i(n) mele” (that is “ossimele cedrato”, no. 68), some type of syrup with hops and lime rinds in honey.

The glazing also extends to the interior of the jugs.

These are two of three specimens, to date known, belonging to the same pharmaceutical supply; the other was published by Governale in his wellknown volume dedicated to maiolica production in Sicily (Governale 1984, p. 39 fig. 50). These pieces are characterised by two different decorations on the back: the ‘arms and trophy’ decorations (see no. 67) which are, in reality, an imitation of a Sicilian pattern. Jar number 68, however, is decorated with plant garland motif, an intertwined motif typical of the Montelupo pharmaceutical production that was characteristic of the last quarter of the 16th century and used up to about 1630 (Berti 1999, pp. 152-55).

The reference to Saint Cosma and Saint Damiano in the front oval, explicitly stressed by the “Medici” writ legible in the background, cannot but lead scholars to a medicinal sphere. In fact, we know that the Florentine de’ Medici family often requested, as can be seen in many of its orders, the representation of the two miracle saints as a clear semantic and iconographic link (their coat-of-arms bearing the “circles” typical pill shape of physicians) with their family.

These maiolica were probably part of a supply to a pharmacy belonging to the de’ Medici. However, they may have been sent to an institution sustained by this same family, as, for, example, the Florentine convent of San Marco.

Should this not be sufficient, it is well to remember that the Osservanza Monastery, in years very close to those when the Cosma and Damiano supply was produced, also characterised its supply of jars by depicting them with Bishop Antonino and later with the saints of the Dominican order (Berti 1999, pp. 98- 107 and pp. 294-98, tables 143-52). We do not know if there were two other apothecaries in Florence “under the sign of the de’ Medici”, nor do we know the possible connections these shops had with the ruling family.

The inscription of the scroll ornament — probably because the craftsman copied the client’s drawing incorrectly or with approximation — is impossible to translate to the letter, but has an implicit sense: it affirms that remedies for our health come from the saints and the Arab pharmacopoeia (“Nos arabes adivique simul bona pharmaca abemus”).

This constitutes an exceptional reference to medical science for this type of container that usually only have symbolic images or references to the nature of the shop or institution of origin. The fact that it comes from an apothecary shop open to the public is also demonstrated by the “lettered seal” placed on the back, where a “reason” for the commercial enterprise is also given (Berti 1999, pp. 15-16).

In two cases the decorations around the edge of the jugs are centred on an “arms and trophies” composition in orange against a blue background and demonstrate a tendency to ‘humanise’ this type of décor by painting eyes and mouth upon the shields, as sometimes happened in Italian maiolica, including that of Montelupo (cf. Berti 1998, p. 349, table 249). The date of “1575” appearing on the stylised decanter painted among the “trophies” of the Sicilian specimen represents a precise chronological reference for the manufacture of this pharmaceutical supply, since jug no.68 shows an identical pictorial treatment of the bordering wreath, the same vase morphology, and the same composition inserted in the oval centre.

This is formed by the natural images of the two saints, who stand out against an intensely yellow backdrop, as occurs in most Montelupese figurative compositions from the end of the 16th century to the first half of the 17th century. An angel descends from the heavens to touch their heads, rendering explicit the enunciation in the scroll that medicine is a divine science. Cosma and Damiano, endowed with the signs of saintliness, are captured while one points to a passage in a book and the other analyses something on a stand, touching it with a stylus. Both figures, being identical in the series of three majolica, must have been done with the help of a charcoal dusting from a drawing sent by the purchaser.

The stretching of the two saints in a lively contortion of bodies and their “Michelangelesque” grandeur well suit the historical period to which they belong.

Bibliografia

Governale 1984, p. 39 fig. 50; Berti 1999, pp. 146-47 e pp. 276-77 tavv. 94-95 e tav. 97.