Art Gallery

The pharmacist (1714)

Frans van Mieris (1662 - 1747)

Original title: The pharmacist or The apothecary.

At the National Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

In the Spain of Philip IV, in the year 1650, an order was issued for Pharmacy to be considered a Scientific Art in all its kingdoms, thereby endowing the same value as Medicine. In the work, we can see an apothecary elaborating what seems a formula, supported by a thick book that is probably a Pharmacopoeia. Also, you can perceive a kind of recipe that is on the table. Around it, you can see essential elements of every pharmacist such as mortar, aloe plant, the fruit of the Papaver somniferum, ceramic containers (albarelos) and a long-necked bottle (redoma).

Source

Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de Madrid. (30 Julio 2015). Cortesía: https://blog.cofm.es/farmaceutico-frans-van-mieris-esencia-profesion/