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Following are images of the apothecary -- a sort of pharmacist or druggist -- and the apothecary's shop. Click here (or scroll down this page) to see extant examples of apothecary jars and containers, as well as other assorted depictions of them.
See also the apothecary museums at Heidelberg, Brixen, Krakow, and Troyes.
Last updated: Nov 7, 2021
APOTHECARIES
- An apothecary in a southern French collection of medical treatises (SBB Lat. qu. 198), 1132
- Abû Zayd practices medicine, Maqâmât 47 (BNF Arabe 6094, fol. 174), 1222-1223
- Abû Zayd practices medicine (fol. 154v) and
Abû Zaid requests payment (fol. 155v),
Maqâmât 47 (BNF Arabe 5847), 1236-1237
- An apothecary’s shop, Circa instans (British Library Sloane 1977, fol. 49v), c. 1300-1310
- Theriac, Tacuinum Sanitatis (BNF NAL 1673, fol. 87v), c. 1390-1400
- The apothecary, Liber de Moribus hominum (BNF Fr. 1165, fol. 42), end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century
- Jorg Werrer, a surgeon, Mendel Hausbuch (Amb. 317.2, fol. 59r), 1436
- Theriac, Tacuinum Sanitatis (BNF Latin 9333, fol. 51v), 15th century
- The apothecary (fol. 251v) and an apothecary's shop (fol. 261), Schachzabelbuch des Konrad von Ammenhausen (WLB Cod. poet. 2, fol. 251v), 1467
- The apothecary, Schachzabelbuch (ÖNB 3049, fol. 132v), 1479
- The apothecary, Liber de Moribus hominum (BNF Fr. 2000, fol. 33), 1480-1485
- An apothecary's pharmacy, Livre des propriétés des choses (BNF Fr. 218, fol. 111), end of the 15th century
- An apothecary's shop, fresco at Issogne, late 15th-early 16th century
- A doctor in a pharmacy with a pupil from a book on surgery (GNM HB 26129), 1497
- The bazaar at Kûfa, Mahzan al-Asrâr (BNF supp. turc 978, fol. 41), first half of the 16th century
- Portrait of Pierre Quthe, apothecary by François Clouet, 1562
- Portrait of Cyriakus Schnauss by Mathis Zündt, 1565
- The apothecary, Das Ständebuch, 1568
- Christ as an apothecary, c. 1580
- Portrait of Andreas Heindel, 1597
- Adrian Poll, an apothecary’s assistant, Landauer Hausbuch (Amb. 279.2, fol. 86r), 1614
APOTHECARY JARS
The illustrations above show the apothecary in front of shelves of containers of materia medica. Following are actual examples of those containers, as well as other assorted depictions of such containers.
A few of the containers are better known by their Italian names: the most common of these terms are the albarello (usually a cylindrical jar, often containing ointments) and the orciuolo (a large oval jar, often with two handles, for liquids).
Mary Magdalene is often depicted with a small apothecary jar; according to Magdalene.org,
This jar is meant to remind the viewer of Mary Magdalene’s role as the woman who went to the tomb to anoint Jesus after the Sabbath, only to find him resurrected. To the extent that Mary Magdalene was believed to have been the woman who performed the anointing before the crucifixion, the jar was related to that scene as well.
- Cleveland Museum of Art 1996.298, an alboraello jar with an aphorism made in Samarkand in the 10th century
- Met 57.61.12a, b, a covered jar made in Iran in the late 13th or early 14th century
- Louvre UCAD 4288, an albarello with fleur-de-lys decoration made in Syria in the first half of the 14th century
- Cleveland Museum of Art 1945.28, albarello with pseudo-Kufic letters, made in Paterna in the 14th century
- Cleveland Museum of Art 1943.276Albarello with two rabbits, made in Paterna in the 14th century
- Museum of London FER97[1074]<3926>, albarello in fritware with blue decoration, made in Syria in the 14th century
- Cleveland Museum of Art 1953.287, albarello with geometric ornament made in Manises c. 1400-1420
- The Louvre's collection of 15th century albarellos from Manises includes
OA 1441,
OA 5874,
OA 7003,
OA 7004,
OA 7591,
OA 7592,
OA 7601,
OA 8987,
OA 8989,
OA 8990,
OA 8991,
OA 8992,
OA 8993,
OA 8994,
OA 8995,
OA 8988,
OA 10033
- Getty 85.DE.56, a relief-blue jar with harpies and birds made in Florence (attributed to the workshop of Piero di Mazeo and Company) c. 1420-1440
Oakleaf jars attributed to the workshop of Giunta di Tugio, Florence
- Cleveland Museum of Art 1943.54, a two-handled drug jar with male and female portraits, 1431
- Cleveland Museum of Art 1943.391, a two-handled pharmacy jar with fleur-de-lys, c. 1430-1450
- British Museum 1902,0424.1, an apothecary jar with a man with a tall hat, c. 1420-1450
- Getty 84.DE.97, relief-blue jar with rampant lions, c. 1425-1450
- Kimbell Art Museum AP 1979.06, apothecary jar with oak leaf and fish, c. 1425-1450
- Louvre OA 3982, a vase with a harpy, c. 1430
- Getty 84.DE.98, relief-blue jar with running boars, c. 1430
- Louvre OA 6304, a vase with the mark of the Santa Maria Nuova hospital and a bird, c. 1431
- Met 1975.1.1061, apothecary jar (orciuolo) with a crane, c. 1431
- Cleveland Museum of Art 1954.258, albarello made in Tuscany, c. 1450
- Getty 84.DE.100, a jar with foliate decoration made in Montelupo c. 1450
- Getty 84.DE.96, a jar with a Kufic pattern made in Montelupo in the mid-1400s
- Cleveland Museum of Art 1943.52, a pair of pharmacy bottles decorated with greyhounds chasing hares made in Faenza c. 1460-80
- Met 1975.1.1059, apothecary jar (albarello) made in or near Florence c. 1470-1490
- Getty 84.DE.104, a drug jar for syrup of lemon juice, probably Pesaro or Naples, c. 1480
- Met 1975.1.1058, apothecary jar (orciolo) made in or near Florence c. 1480-1520
- Getty 84.DE.112.2, a jar with a woman and geese made in Faenza, c. 1500-1525
- Museum of London A4925, an albarello (inscribed "VA T'EN QUITTE") made in Beauvais c. 1500-1536
- An imported medicine jar from Beauvais c. 1500-1550
- Getty 84.DE.112.1, a cylindrical drug jar with a lame peasant, made in Faenza c. 1510
- Met 23.166, a pharmacy jar made in Siena in 1515
- Mary Magdalene by Ambrosius Benson, c. 1530
- Albarello by Masséot Abaquesne c. 1545
- Louvre OA 5961, an albarello by Masséot Abaquesne, mid-16th century
- V&A C.242-1931, drug jar (albarello) made in Nîmes or Montpellier c. 1550
- V&A C.88-1944, a drug jar (albarello) made at Antoine Syjalon's pottery factory in Nîmes c. 1550-1600
- V&A C.1-1935, a drug jar (albarello) made in Nîmes in the late 16th century
- V&A C.149-1951, a drug jar (albarello) made in Nîmes or Montpellier in the late 16th century
- V&A C.300-1938, a drug jar (albarello) made in Montpellier c. 1575-1625
- V&A C.303-1938, a wet drug jar (albarello) made in Montpellier or Brussels c. 1575-1625
- V&A C.150-1951, a wet drug jar (albarello) made at Antoine Syjalon's pottery factory in Nîmes c. 1580
- Albarellos with the Annunciation (Louvre OA 7814) and St. Frances of Rome and the angel (Louvre OA 7815), made at the workshop of Jean Estève in Montpelier at the end of the 16th century
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