Vicent Rodilla
Joanne Cahill
Spain

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, European pharmacy stood at a crossroads between traditional apothecary practice and the emerging scientific foundations of modern pharmaceutical science. Medicines were still prepared largely by hand from plants, minerals, and animal-derived substances, even as advances in chemistry began to reshape the understanding of drugs and their preparation. In hospitals, monasteries, and charitable institutions, the responsibility for preparing and dispensing medicines often fell to religious communities, whose members combined caregiving with pharmaceutical work. Mortars, balances, ceramic jars, herb collections, and handwritten recipes formed the essential equipment of a profession that relied heavily on the art of compounding remedies for individual patients.¹

In this context, the Belgian Romantic painter Philippe-Jacques van Bree (1786–1871) produced The Pharmacy at Saint John’s Hospital (Figure 1). Trained at the Antwerp Academy and later appointed court painter to King Leopold I of Belgium, van Bree is best known for his historical and genre subjects. His interest in the documentation of historic interiors and everyday life is particularly evident in this painting, which serves not only as an artistic work but also as a visual record of pharmaceutical practice in nineteenth-century Bruges.²

The painting depicts the pharmacy of Saint John’s Hospital (Sint-Janshospitaal), one of Europe’s oldest hospital institutions, which was originally run by lay brothers and sisters, although in 1236 they were required by the Bishop of Cambrai to take vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, aligning them with religious life. In 1459, the Bishop of Tournai, Jean Chevrot, formally transformed the community into a true religious order, placing them under ecclesiastical authority.³ By around 1600, the institution had become entirely female, with the Augustinian Sisters caring for the sick and managing daily operations, including the pharmacy.^2,4

In this painting, van Bree portrays the sister‑apothecaries engaged in their daily duties: one carefully sorts medicinal herbs, another grinds material in a large bronze mortar, and others prepare remedies behind an imposing dispensing counter. A small book lies at the feet of the sister sorting herbs, probably a formulary or devotional manual, serving as a quiet reminder of how written knowledge accompanied the practical work of compounding medicines even in earlier hospital pharmacies. In the forefront, a woman waits with her sick child seated on her lap, illustrating the charitable and therapeutic role of the hospital. Beside her, a modest basket of groceries introduces a note of everyday life, suggesting that the search for treatment formed part of the same domestic routines as procuring food and caring for a household. Van Bree also includes a cat in the lower corner of the painting, a detail that hints at the informal safeguards of early apothecaries, such as keeping stored herbs and grains free from pests. This obviously stands in gentle contrast to the strictly controlled, contamination‑free environments in which medicines are prepared today. Altogether, the scene conveys a sense of order and purposeful activity, showing both the expertise of the sister‑apothecaries and the central role of the hospital pharmacy in patient care.

Van Bree’s work gains particular significance from the fact that the actual pharmacy he depicted has been preserved to the present day. Contemporary photographs show an exceptionally well‑maintained seventeenth‑century apothecary, established in 1643 and operated by sister‑apothecaries until 1971 (Figure 2). Dark wooden shelving filled with ceramic jars and apothecary cabinets line the walls, with original equipment such as dispensing counters, balances, mortars, and storage vessels on display. The space has changed remarkably little since van Bree painted it. The surviving interior confirms the accuracy of his representation and allows today’s viewers to compare the painted scene with the authentic setting in which medicines were prepared and dispensed for centuries.

A small but touching detail adds another layer to van Bree’s painting. The son of Émile van Becelaere, a former mayor of the city, donated the painting to the hospital in 1872. A Latin inscription on the back of the painting (“Sancti Joannis Hospitio Dono Dedit, Ob Memoriam Patris Dilectissimi Emilius Van Becelaere Anno MDCCCLXXII”; “Gifted to the Hospital of Saint John, in memory of the most beloved father, Emilius van Becelaere, in the year 1872”) records the donation.⁵The Flemish Art Collection identifies the aunt of the donor as Sister Francisca van Becelaere, the nurse working behind the counter holding a spoon. Also identified are Sister Usseel and Sister Benedicta Smidt, two of the apothecary sisters at work, with a fourth remaining unnamed.⁶ The donation ensured that the painting was preserved alongside the historic pharmacy it portrays and links the image of one of the sister‑apothecaries to a family whose members had served within the institution and the city of Bruges.

Viewed together with the preserved pharmacy and its historic furnishings, The Pharmacy at Saint John’s Hospital becomes more than a genre painting. It stands as a valuable testament to the traditions of hospital pharmacy in pre‑industrial Europe, documenting a period when pharmaceutical knowledge, manual skill, and charitable care were closely intertwined.

References

1. Hein. Wolfgang-Hagen. Pharmacy Before Industrialization: Tools, Techniques, and Professional Practice in Early Modern Europe. In: Kremer R, ed. Historical Perspectives of Professional Pharmacy in Europe. Braunschweig, Germany; 2005:15-44.
2. Hospital of Saint John – Bruges – Belgium. Accessed August 1, 2026. https://ermakvagus.com/Europe/Belgium/Bruges/hospital.html
3. Ziegler TA. Medieval Healthcare and the Rise of Charitable Institutions: The History of the Municipal Hospital. Published online 2018:155. Accessed August 1, 2026. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Medieval_Healthcare_and_the_Rise_of_Char/poJyDwAAQBAJ
4. Goegebuer S. St John’s Hospital in Bruges in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Real and intangible interactions between religión, devotion, care and the ingredients necessary to constitute a continuous hospital history. In: Peregrina Quintana (ed.) Documentary and Visual Sources for the Historical Study of Hospitals. Institución Fernando el Católico (IFC) Diputación de Zaragoza Zaragoza, Spain; 2016:245-268.
5. View in the pharmacy of the St John’s Hospital | Museums Bruges. Accessed August 2, 2026. https://www.museabrugge.be/collection/work/id/o_sj0079_i
6. View in the pharmacy of the St John’s Hospital | The Flemish Art Collection. Accessed August 2, 2026. https://vlaamsekunstcollectie.be/en/collection/o-sj0079-i