Art has always documented people's history. Human health, illnesses, and health promotion have also been registered. In this study, we aimed at presenting to the scientific community nursing history as registered upon the screens of painters from the XVI Century to the XX Century. In addition, we related the expressions and concepts depicted on the screens to the history of nursing. We carried out a documentary research based on Donahue's work, from which we selected only publications from 1989, consisting of 26 screens that were first interpreted by the author. We organizing them in chronological order to argue the different nuances of nursing, disclosed in the paintings. With the aid of an art professor, we were able to approach the care that was present from the XVI Century to XX Century throughout her twenty and six concepts, as an essence of the nursing practice, even before it was constituted as a profession.
History of nursing; Art; Esthetics
