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The pharmacy at the Ercole d’Oro

November 26, 2021

There are so many old pharmacies in Venice, that some have remained in situ, turned into contemporary shops (especially those of the perfume company The Merchant of Venice). One of the most spectacular such locations is the Ercole d’Oro pharmacy near the church of Santa Fosca, in the district of Cannaregio, with 17th-18th-century furniture and artifacts. We have admired the painted ceiling, the exquisite furniture with reliefs and sculptures, the drawers with apothecary inscriptions, the pottery jars, as well as an interesting depiction of drug-making, on a wooden plaque commemorating the renovation of the 18th century.

The treacle of the Testa d’Oro

November 25, 2021

A gilded human dead and the faded inscription THERIACA ANDROMACHI can be seen on the spot of the old Testa d’Oro pharmacy in Venice, near the Rialto Bridge. This ancient pharmacy was famous for making the best treacle in Venice, so much so that the authorities allowed them to prepare the drug three times a year, instead of just once like all other apothecary shops. Theriaca (also known as Confectio Andromacha or Electuarium Anodynum cum opio) was a famous drug used as panacea, antidote for snake bites and poison, and last resort drug for patients in terminal stages. The recipe was first devised by the ancient Greeks, completed by emperor Nero’s personal physician, Andromachus, and perfected by the Venetians during the late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Theriaca contained some 40 to 60 ingredients, its preparation lasted up to 12 years, and was thus extremely expensive. It contained, among others, opium and viper flesh. In Transylvania it was used until the nineteenth century and was brought in by Italian merchants.

Pietro Longhi’s “Pharmacist”

November 24, 2021

Pietro Longhi is known for his series of paintings depicting the daily life of the Venetian aristocracy in the middle of the 18th century. These genre paintings follow the high-class men and especially women of the Serenissima while they drink chocolate in the morning, while they go about their business, visiting the barber, the pharmacist, merchant stalls, or taking part in the Carnival. This light and far from formal style made Longhi famous during his time and his enlightened attention to detail make his works a significant visual source of the era. We were interested to see his painting entitled “The Pharmacist” on display at the Galleria dell’Academia in Venice. We have analyzed in detail the interior of the pharmacy (the drug jars made of pottery and glass, the drug boxes, the retorts, but also the furniture, the painting, and the plant in a pot), and especially the depicted characters. Baroque pharmacies were not only places where medicine was produced and dispensed, but also places for medical consults and the administration of remedies, meeting places for discussions, debates of the news, and the inspection of exotic goods. We also noted upon the high social standing of the pharmacist, as he is seconded by an assistant and an apprentice. Another of Pietro Longhi’s paintings, “The Alchemists”, on display at the Ca’ Rezzonico, is also relevant for our research as it shows the laboratory equipment that was also used in the era’s pharmacies.

The ”Andrea Vesalio” Museum of Pathological Anatomy

November 23, 2021

The Venetian hospital Scuola Grande di San Marco also includes a museum of pathological anatomy that bears the name of Andrea Vesalio, a famous Flemish anatomist who moved to the Serenissima during the 16th century. The autopsies and dissections performed at the hospital over time fulfilled a pedagogical function and the pathology museum was established with the same purpose. Visitors with steady nerves can investigate the ”products” of various human pathologies, organs preserved in formaldehyde, skeleton parts, even an example of human taxidermy, but also ledgers and old microscopes.

The pharmacy of the Scuola Grande di San Marco

November 22, 2021

The ancient civilian hospital of Venice, Scuola Grande di San Marco, was also endowed with a pharmacy. The latter is currently on display in a separate room, with a decorated portal, flanked by reliefs depicting healing scenes, in what was once a side chapel. The following items have been preserved from this pharmacy: several pieces of furniture, a number of drug containers, made of different materials, two portraits (Linnaeus, the father of biological classification and Lavoisier, the founder of modern chemistry), as well as several mortars and scales. One must note the large quantity of materia medica, of both mineral and vegetal origin, still preserved in the containers.

Scuola Grande di San Marco a Venezia

November 19, 2021

During our visit to Venice we have visited the museums of the Scuola Grande di San Marco, the old civilian hospital of the Serenissima, reopened to the public in 2013. The main exhibition area of the hospital contains an amazing hall for the library and display cases for their medical incunabula and old books, completed by artifacts used in the old hospital. Visiting the display we were impressed by the art decoration of the rooms and learned much about the medical books produced in Venice during the 16th-18th centuries, some of which also reached Transylvania. We were also interested by the old medical and pharmaceutical artifacts, such as mortars and pestles, scarificators, surgery tools and many more. Feel free to read more about it on their website: https://www.scuolagrandesanmarco.it/en/introduction/scuola-grande-di-san-marco-presentation.html

The pharmaceutical collection in Sighișoara

November 12, 2021

The items in the pharmaceutical collection of the History Museum in Sighișoara are impressive, though not the same can be said about their display. Some of the artifacts (out of the much more numerous collection) are exhibited in one of the floors of the museum in the medieval Clock Tower. One can inspect apothecary painted furniture, drug jars and boxes, but also medical and especially surgical tools, books, weights, diplomas and other patrimony goods related especially to the local history of pharmacy. Though the exhibition awaits a much needed remake, the items on display have been recently published in Veress László’s book entitked, Népgyógyászat és hivatalos orvoslás határán. Segesvár gyógyszerészet-történeti, Stúdium, 2021 [On the verge of folk and official medicine. The pharmaceutical history of Sighișoara].

The Pharmacy Museum in Sibiu

November 9, 2021

In September 2021 we have visited the History of Pharmacy Museum in Sibiu, part of the Brukenthal National Museum. Taking advantage of the specialized guided tour provided by Dr. Ana-Maria Păpureanu, we have discovered the very rich patrimony of this museum opened in the former rooms of the Black Bear pharmacy, the third one in Sibiu, that functioned between around 1600 and 1949, when it was nationalized. This is the largest history of pharmacy collection in Romania, with circa 7000 artifacts dated between the 16th and the 20th century. We have talked about the history of the museum itself (opened in 1972) and about the education programs they organize.

We recommend all those interested in the history of pharmacy, pharmaceutical technology, homeopathy and history in general to visit the museum in Sibiu. The information provided inside the museum is abundant and the guided tours can be very technical for groups such as students of pharmacy and botany.

The History of Pharmacy and Medicine in Kecskemet

October 29, 2021

Kecskemet hosts a small but highly specialized museum of medicine and pharmacy (part of the Kecskeméti Katona József Múzeum). Their collection is much larger, including about 5000 artifacts, but those selected for the exhibition are well chosen and well explained. Through its dual structure, the history of both medicine and pharmacy, the museum most resembles the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj. We highly recommend a visit to the Orvos- és Gyógyszerészettörténeti Gyűjtemény, with its nice design, good visual materials (drawings, digital data), and extensive English presentation file. There are also interactive areas – one can discover the smell and therapeutic indications of volatile oils and the trendy design of old pharmaceutical commercials. We congratulate the curator, Ágnes Mészáros, and her team.

The two pharmacy museums in Kőszeg

October 27, 2021

The charming town of Kőszeg, Hungary, boasts two pharmacy museums, both part of the Kőszegi Városi Múzeum and both on display in old local apothecary shops: Aranyi Egyszárvu Patikaháza (The Golden Unicorn Pharmacy Museum) and Fekete Szerecseny Patikaháza (The Black Saracen Pharmacy Museum). The first, which is the larger of the two, is located in the very center of the town, and one can visit the exhibition on the ground floor, the plant-drying installation and exhibition in the attic, and the reconstructed herb garden in the back. The exhibition is remarkable through it extensive materia medica and inclusion of medical instruments. The smaller museum contains officina furniture sets, as well as a reconstructed laboratory. We have certainly enjoyed our visit to Kőszeg and learned a lot.