”Ai do San Marchi” Pharmacy

The ”Two saints Mark” Pharmacy (the funny name probably started from the fact that the patron saint of Venice was painted on each side of the shop’s sign) is entirely preserved inside the Ca Rezzonico Museum. The pharmacy functioned in Campo San Stin between the 16th and the 19th century, but in 1908 the window of the last owner sold everything to a French collector. Still, as the latter was unable to take the goods out of Italy, he donated the entire furniture, containers and laboratory tools to the municipality of Venice. The three reconstructed rooms (the oficina, the small laboratory, and the back room) are complete, with all pieces of furniture, Venetian drug jars made of majolica, Murano glass retorts and containers, even the doors to the outside, with small glass panels, and the painted sign mentioned above. This is an impressive reconstruction and the most complete 18th-century pharmacy preserved from Venice. We thank Dr. Daniele D’Anza, of the Ca’ Rezzonico, Museo del Settecento veneziano, for the special guided tour.

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