TRADITION AND RENOVATION IN THE ANCIENT DRUGS OF THE SPEZIERIA DI SANTA MARIA DELLA SCALA BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND MAGICAL THOUGHT

In this study we present the first physicochemical study of 231 drugs preserved in the main show-case at the ‘Spezieria di Santa Maria della Scala’ (Rome), a conventual pharmacy founded in the late seventeenth century by the Order of the Discalced Carmelites. This pharmacy is therefore associated with the religious order of Spanish origin that at that time controlled trade with both the East and the West Indies. We assumed ‘a priori’ that the drugs preserved in the pharmacy could exemplify the amalgam of learning that made up pharmaceutical knowledge in Early Modern Europe, which is of interest to the History of Science. In order to identify the composition of these drugs, we used a multi-analytical approach by the combined use of optical microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, FTIR, X-ray diffraction and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer. Our results so far have enabled us to make an initial historical and cultural analysis of the drugs that were prepared by the Carmelite friars at this conventual pharmacy in Baroque Rome. One of the most interesting conclusions from this study is that a lot of identified substances had both artistic and medicinal use.