Cordial waters and alchemy

One of the highlights of the "Gold and gems" temporary exhibition currently on show at the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca is the recreation of cordials and a discussion on how they were produced. 

Cordial waters were based on the idea of the alchemists’ Aurum potabile, pure gold liquefied according to secret methods, considered universal medicine (panaceum) and a true Elixir of Life. Alchemists believed gold to be a pure substance, thus its consumption could only benefit the body. Still, some 15th-16th c. texts mention intoxications with gold and even deaths.

Cordial waters imitated the properties of that noble metal. Their golden color was obtained with saffron (Crocus sativus, the most expensive of spices, as each flower only has three stigmata), but the most expensive variants also contained flecks of gold.

Recreation of cordial water containing saffron and gold flecks

Crocus sativus flower,

Another connection to alchemy is that cordials contained alcohol, obtained through distillation in the alembic and the retort, two of the typical instruments of the alchemists. The alembic had three parts: the curcubit, the heated still pot containing the liquid to be distilled, the ambic, which fits over the mouth of the cucurbit to receive the vapors, with an attached downward-sloping "tube" and the receiving kabila. Retorts have the ambic and the cucurbit made into one.

Alembic and retort in the reconstructed laboratory of the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj-Napoca

Precious apothecary ingredients

The new temporary exhibition at the History of Pharmacy Collection in Cluj, entitled "Gold and gems", is actually about many other interesting fact about the history of pharmacy, alchemy and snobbery. It tells the story of gold, silver, and gem powder as universal medicines, of the advantages of gilding or silvering pills, of black epileptic powders that contained precious red coral, mother of pearl and crushed narwal tusk, of alcoholic tonics that contained saffron and flecks of gold, but also of ingredients making reference to precious metals, such as Orpiment (arsenic yellow powder) and the Golden citrus (bitter orange).

Don't miss the exhibition that will be open until the end of this year.

Cordial waters contained saffron and flecks of gold

Crocus sativus or Saffron Crocus, the most expensive of spices, reaching the price of gold

The Gold Pigment - Orpiment

Gold leaf and Avicenna's pills

Gold and silver uses in homeopathy - a theory born in Transylvania

 

 

A bit of yellow

By autumn, the yellow-saffron glow of summer days has a hint of nostalgia. I tried to get that feeling back through a series of small paintings. The style is, as usual, a mix: acrylic layers after layers, patina, and drawing pencil. Dried colors are duller than wet ones, so the finish consists of a thick layer of acrylic varnish. The subject is a pretext for color and amusing details: laundry left to dry in front of a wall, including towels, shirts, and underwear.