Drug Jar for Mithridate and Drug Jar for Theriac

Annibale Fontana

about 1580

Terracotta with white paint and gilt exterior and glazed interior, Terracotta, Paint

J. Paul Getty Museum

Two ornate lidded jars are decorated with relief scenes and figures. The jars are white with gold accents and have handles shaped like human figures. Designed as a pair, these elaborately modeled drug jars were made to contain mithridatum and theriac, used as antidotes to poisons, to ward off the plague, and as general cure-alls. They were among the most highly prized and complex drugs in the Renaissance pharmacy, especially in Italy and France, where they continued to be made for centuries. The highly decorative combination of gilding and lead-white paint on the outside of the vessels disguises their basic function as drug jars, a purpose supported by the fact that their interiors are glazed to make them watertight. These jars, elaborately decorated with a rich sampling of sixte