Arms of the House of Medici.
“The house of Medici,” says the author of the Discours merveilleux sur la Vie de Catherine de Medici, “was for a long period hidden amongst the lowest refuse of the people at Florence. It began to rise by means of a collier, who had a son an apothecary, who took the name of his profession; and as we in the present day see people taking for devices the emblems of their trade, as tailors their scissors, masons their hammer or trowel, so this doctor adopted five pills, as it is their habit to order an odd number to their patients.” This is a singular derivation of the armorial bearings of this celebrated house.