The Quack

At any time from the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century thousands of itinerant vendors offered their products and services for sale from village to town to city. It is estimated that in the mid-19th century there were 50,000 itinerant street hawkers working in London alone. These vendors included itinerant healers such as tooth extractors, cataract depressors, and quacks offering their powders, salves and elixirs, as seen in this painting by a follower of the famous Gerard Dou.

The loud promotional call of the quack led to the name ‘charlatan,’ derived from the Italian word ciarlare, meaning to babble or prattle. Quacks often claimed to have developed a wonder cure, but based on the dubious reception by the assembled crowd, perhaps the only ‘wonder’ this quack created concerned his steep prices or the quality of the medicinal agent being offered. For example, Theriac was considered an exceptional miracle drug made in ancient Greece from aniseed, caraway and fennel. It was often used to treat snakebites. Over time, the drug was continually adulterated, so that by the Middle Ages such things as duck blood and viper meat had been added. Theriac was considered a wonder medicine that prolonged life and was distributed well into the 19th century by doctors.

Dou's follower ironically illustrates the way a quack entices people and possibly seduces them. The withered tree to the left forms a stag's head with antlers, sometimes symbolic of fertility or the hunt/chase. Perhaps it is the quack who is on the chase.