Pigmented Remedies: The Pharmacy of Colour in Early Modern Europe

Abstract

This article will examine pigments recently identified in an unpublished conservation survey at the Wellcome Collection that included two 17th-century medical manuscripts. These pigments, which were drawn from plant and mineral products, served a dual purpose based on their medicinal and pigmented properties. An exploration of how these pigments were used (and why) by a range of practitioners – including apothecaries, physicians, “kitchen physicians,” and artisans – reveals the importance of colour throughout early modern Europe. The persistence of traditional medical theories is revealed by examining evidence across an extensive period covering the 16th to the 18th century. Receipt books, medical treatises, and health guides are contrasted with artisanal texts reflecting the blurring of boundaries between the worlds of medicine and art. Modern analysis by conservators of colour used in medieval and early modern texts is crucial to the preservation of pigments but also provides a deeper understanding of what and how pigmented products were used in the period and, ultimately, informs our current understandings of early modern life and medicine.