Taking advantage of the fact that January is dedicated to the monastic pharmacy of the Cartuja de Valldemossa, the painting of the month is located precisely in the small and beautiful pharmacy of the monastery.
It is an oil on canvas depicting the medical saints Cosmas and Damian, twin brothers of Christian parents born in Arabia in the 3rd century. These two characters became famous for disinterestedly practicing medicine and ended up replacing the cult of Greek and Roman mythology with the god Aesculapius, becoming chosen patrons of doctors and pharmacists in the Christian era.
On an iconographic level, they have been represented both together and separately in different attitudes: miraculously curing the sick or emerging victorious from the ordeals of their martyrdom. As can be seen in this work, the saints appear as two young twin brothers, similar to each other, with tools related to their profession. The figures are framed in a setting that combines the interior of an office and a rocky exterior. The painting presents a balanced composition with a chromatic range in which warm colors stand out.
Aina Ferrero Horrach.
