ABSTRACT
Underlying any discussion of the iconography is the question of how to identify mountebank images. Examination of numerous pictures that carry, or are linked with, written confirmation of this subject suggests typical visual cues to mountebank activity. These include their trestle stages, promotional material such as certificates, and allusions to their theatricality, such as costumes, exotic or venomous beasts and other props. Most importantly, they include their wares, and the containers used to transport them. Sometimes, especially before around 1580, troupes are depicted presenting their wares in nondescript baskets, boxes, sacks, or chests (Plate 21). However, the container typically depicted is a capacious domed trunk, variously described as a cask or coffer, ‘rich Cabinets’, a ‘trunke’, or a fine case.1 In the iconography, its visual impact is almost invariably enhanced by a wooden stand, generally ornately carved; some trunks are covered with rich crimson leather or lined in red cloth most have metal studs, a lock and handles. While the presence of such a trunk or similar container on or near trestle stages with performers may be taken as a reliable indication of medical activity, its absence in this context does not always indicate performers who generated their income solely through a direct entrance fee.
