Peter Leopold’s Vaccine

The Grand Duke Peter Leopold of the Lorraine Family is best known in history for his numerous reforms, his sense of enlightenment and for being the first in the world for abolishing the death penalty in 1786.

Not everyone, however, knows that he also had a great passion for science of which he was also a great sponsor.

In fact, this strong predisposition for science led him in 1769 to experiment on himself by receiving the “smallpox inoculation.”

This was a practical, initial vaccine against this dreadful disease that tormented Tuscany for several years during that époque.

It is documented that the vaccine was administered to the Grand Duke by the Dutch physician, Jan Ingenhousz, who had come to Florence for this specific purpose.

The physician incised the Grand Duke’s skin with a lancet that had been first introduced into a smallpox blister taken from a patient, in order to cause a sort of light and controllable form of the disease.

The small drawers and cubby holes were filled with both instruments and glass jars of elements. Underneath you can also find a foot bellows especially useful for easily facilitating the combustion of the materials.

One small proof of Peter Leopold’s personal experiments can be witnessed in the small, elegant glass bottle labelled “olio estratto dalle formiche” translated into “oil extracted from ants.”

This prized substance makes for an optimal treatment for healing skin wounds.