Pharmacy jar with subjects from The Campaigns of Julius Caesar

Pharmacy jar with subjects from The Campaigns of Julius Caesar

Patanazzi Family

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

With both painted and sculpted ornament, this monumental vessel blurs the line between decorative and functional. Vignettes from the life of Julius Caesar appear within two central roundels surrounded by coats of arms and grotesque designs created in imitation of ancient Roman art. This vessel comes from the most elaborate and extensive set of Renaissance pharmacy jars to survive, most of which remain in situ in Roccavaldina, Sicily.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pharmacy jar with subjects from The Campaigns of Julius CaesarPharmacy jar with subjects from The Campaigns of Julius CaesarPharmacy jar with subjects from The Campaigns of Julius CaesarPharmacy jar with subjects from The Campaigns of Julius CaesarPharmacy jar with subjects from The Campaigns of Julius Caesar

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.