Oak Leaf Pharmacy Jar with Portraits
Oak Leaf Pharmacy Jar with Portraits, workshop of Giunta di Tugio (Italian) c. 1382-1431
1943.54
Not on display
This two-handled drug container with a bulbous body and short neck belongs to a group of wares known as "oak leaf jars." (Other examples may be seen nearby.) The container depicts two profile busts among the blue-on-white oak leaves on branching stems. Each handle incorporates a crutch, painted in green and manganese, representing the badge of the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. The star motif below the crutch is the workshop mark of the ceramist, Giunta di Tugio, known to have received this commission in the year 1431. In the early Middle Ages, hospitals were simple hospices set up outside cities to offer food and lodging to pilgrims and travelers. The Santa Maria Nuova hospital-the largest in Florence by the mid 14th century-was the first hospital in that city dedicated primarily to caring for the sick.
Images Copyright © the artist, their estate, and/or the Cleveland Museum of Art.
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