Four
eighteenth-century wall painting medallions framed by vegetal decoration have
been preserved in the Officina of the pharmacy owned by Tobias Maucksch in Cluj-Napoca. Two of the medallions with stucco relief frames are heart-shaped and
depict pairs of Cornucopias, Roman symbols of plenty, while the other two are
adapted to the room’s function, being decorated with symbols of pharmacy: the
snakes of Asklepios and the stork with a rock in its claws, a symbol of
vigilance. It is interesting to note the fact that these are rare examples of
lay Baroque painting preserved in Cluj.
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| Baroque medallions decorating the vault of the Officina of Tobias Maucksch’s private pharmacy in Cluj |
According to the Latin inscription painted on
one of the adjacent walls (the one visitors would first see, after entering the
shop from Unirii Square), the work was completed in 1766 by the privileged
pharmacist Tobias Maucksch with God’s grace and favor “vix espectatos duxit
bona causa triumphos”, when the good cause ended in expected triumph.
The owner was thus displaying his status and privilege that he envisaged as
being a good cause and obtained through divine favor. The prominent position of
this inscription inside the apothecary shop stresses the importance of its
message and reveals another mechanism of self promotion and marketing in the
dawn of modernity in Cluj. As representative room of the pharmacy, the Officina
was understandably the most decorated, carrying the most numerous symbolic
messages aimed as pointing to the pharmacist’s status, wealth, erudition and
enjoyment of God’s graces. Other elements might have originally existed in this
Officina, but one third of it (on the building’s corner) were demolished during
the 1950s by the authorities in a town planning measure aimed at enlarging
pedestrian circulation in that part of the square.
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| Latin inscription preserved (though a poorer state) in the same Officina |
Though few such Early Modern items have been
preserved, none from Cluj, the furniture of the pharmacies was also special,
with open shelves displaying ornate apothecary jars or with drawers with
painted signatures in Latin. These Latin inscriptions, to be found on
apothecary furniture items and jars, also had a secondary function (besides
indicating their contents), that of impressing customers. The (presumed)
erudition of the pharmacist, schooled in both the science of medicine
preparation and classical culture, was another way of gaining the client’s
trust. The selection of Latin as the language of the inscription discussed
above from the Officina of Maucksch’s pharmacy in Cluj might point in the same
direction.
