science and medicine in early modern venice 719
The pharmacies were also theaters of scientific demonstration. The
debate over ancient versus modern medicine was argued during the
annual ritual of making theriac, the universal antidote of antiquity. First
described by Galen, theriac was a rare and costly medicament thought to
be a panacea to cure all illnesses. compounded from 64 different ingredi-
ents, theriac, writes Paula Findlen, “was designed to mirror man’s physi-
ological complexity; each ingredient corresponded to a particular part
and function of the human body.”55
The theriac-making rite was held each spring under the strict supervi-
sion of the Provveditori alla Sanità, or Public Health office (see below).
The spectacles took place on the piazzas outside the pharmacy shops that
were lucky enough to obtain one of the coveted licenses to make the drug.
The piazza was adorned with rich damasks and busts of Hippocrates and
Galen. rows of benches held great majolica jars filled with the herbs and
gums and spices that were used to make up the ancient antidote: pep-
per, myrrh, gum arabic, cinnamon, fennel, rose petals, iris roots, opium,
amber, and various aromatic herbs from the east. on the highest bench
in the back row, arranged in a neat line, stood several dozen glass ves-
sels containing live snakes. The principal ingredient of theriac—the one
that gave the drug its potency—was the flesh of vipers killed and dis-
sected according to a prescribed method. in fact, so many vipers were
killed to make theriac in Venice that by the 17th century the species had
completely disappeared from the euganean Hills outside Padua, where
they were traditionally collected.
When all was prepared, the Priors of the college of Medicine arrived
dressed in their academic robes to solemnly inspect the ingredients. every-
thing about the scene enhanced the ritual’s pomp and ceremony. Watch-
ing the production of theriac in Venice was a regular part of travelers’
itineraries. John evelyn, who visited Venice in 1645, reported seeing “the
extraordinary ceremony whereof i had been curious to observe, for it is
extremely pompous and worth seeing.” His purchase of some “treacle,” as
it was termed, was one of his most prized acquisitions in Venice.
The physicians vigorously debated the virtues of theriac. Humanists
attacked the widespread medieval reliance on polypharmacy, which they
considered to be a corruption by arabic texts, and advocated a return to
the “simples”—remedies derived from a single plant, animal, or mineral
ingredient—supposedly favored by the ancient physicians. Theriac pre-
sented humanists with a particularly challenging case. on one hand, the
55 Findlen, Possessing Nature, p. 241.