Glass bottle, painted with the scene of the birth of Saint, from the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in Florence.

This bottle originates from the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in Florence, Italy, a hospital founded in 1288 by a rich benefactor, banker Folco Portinari, a year before his death. Much of the care was provided by the Oblates, originally pious but often wealthy Florentine women who dedicated their lives to God, who became a religious order. Over the centuries it also became the home of numerous works of art from many of Florence’s leading artists. Seven centuries after it’s foundation the hospital remains in active use.

Illustrated on the bottle is Santa Maria – Saint Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is depicted in bed looking towards her newly born child, depicted with a halo, who stands in a wash bowl alongside a second women. The bottle’s former contents would have been contained by a velvet-covered glass stopper, decorated by two tassels. Of uncertain age, it was purchased in Florence by Captain Johnston-Saint, one of Henry Wellcome’s collecting agents, in November 1929.