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Itinerant Medicine Vendors in Rome

Image credit: Wellcome Collection

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In the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, medicines were sold in Europe not only by apothecaries in their pharmacies but also by travelling theatre groups who made the selling of medicines into the climax of an elaborate comic performance. In this scene, the man on stage with the big black hat is playing the part of an academic doctor whose dog Latin is ridiculed by the zany or Harlequin character next to him. The dome of St Peter's in the left background sets the scene in Rome.

Wellcome Collection

London

Title

Itinerant Medicine Vendors in Rome

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 60 x W 74 cm

Accession number

45032i

Acquisition method

purchased by Henry S. Wellcome, c.1900–1936

Work type

Painting

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Wellcome Collection

183 Euston Road, London, Greater London NW1 2BE England

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