Historia de la medicina y la farmacia en Chile, Medical mural in Concepción, Chile
Historia de la medicina y la farmacia en Chile is a mural in Concepción spanning three large panels inside the former Maluje Pharmacy building, depicting medicine and pharmacy evolution through detailed illustrations. The artwork shows traditional indigenous healing on the left, the arrival of European medical knowledge in the center, and modern medicine on the right with portraits of physician Alejandro Lipschutz.
Julio Escámez painted the fresco in 1957 for the new Maluje Pharmacy building, designed by Javier "Maco" Gutiérrez with double height and large windows so the mural could be seen from the street. Escámez had just studied fresco technique in Florence and was assisted for a month by Albino Echeverría. The work was declared a National Monument of Chile in 2015 by Decree 370.
The left panel, called "Homenaje a la medicina: la vacunación", opens with a Mapuche woman gathering medicinal herbs beside a boldo tree. Toward the centre, a boy with a palín watches riders approach a group preparing a feast and an animal sacrifice around a fire. The mural reads chronologically from left to right above the pharmacy shelves.
The mural is located at 676 Tucapel Street in Concepción and remains visible through large windows designed for public viewing. The building's design allows viewing from outside without requiring entry.
A photographic reproduction of the complete mural is held at the Prof. César Leyton Caravagno pharmacy museum, in the College of Pharmaceutical Chemists of the University of Chile in Santiago. The fresco was painted with coloured earth ground and mixed with pure water, then applied over lime and sand with soft brushes, a technique needing less upkeep than other painting methods.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,629 contributors worldwide.