Fragile Masterpieces

Focusing on Renaissance albarelli – iconic tin-glazed jars used by apothecaries for the storage and display of medicinal ingredients – this publication explores the intersection of science, art, and globalization in early modern Europe from the 15th to the 17th centuries. In that era, these decorated vessels permitted people authorized to handle them to claim authority and command of knowledge within the rapidly growing field of pharmaceutical and medical studies. By highlighting the materiality of these ceramic containers, the authors point to the scientific community’s continual search for knowledge and technologies. The lustrous surfaces testify to the networks of exchange established across the early modern world, and the experimentation that linked early modern pottery workshops with the apothecary practices.

• Provides the first detailed art historical study of the ceramic collection of the Pharmacy Museum, University of Basel
• Presents the data obtained from the scientific investigation, including a material analysis of ceramic vases with their lustrous surfaces using non-invasive XRF and Raman spectroscopies