Form and function

Not too far away from the wide-rimmed bowl that featured one of the approximately twelve bazillion rapes of Greek mythology, there’s a case with three more Italian Renaissance pots.

Well, two “drug jars” and a plate. By someone called Orazio Pompeii, about whom I can find no information at all.

I was vastly impressed by the size of the drug jars—at least 15 inches high. I mean—that’s pretty much the Costco-size medication container, and I wonder what drug you could get in that quantity?

Back then, I mean.

Also, I thought it very interesting that the illustration on one of them was of Cleopatra’s final dose:

Is that an invitation or a discouraging function, do you think?

But then there was the plate, which was only described as “an allegorical subject”. (Sorry about the light glare.)

I’ll have to go back and see if I can copy down the Latin inscription and get a translation. But my first thought was, “I’ll be blowed if I can figure out what, exactly, allegory this represents.”

But I’d purely like to find out.

P.S. Okay, the “drug jars” are apparently apothecary jars, so not for personal use. Unless you were extra-special friends of the druggist, I suppose.