Portrait & Artifact Collections

MedChi’s historical collections include over 150 portraits of Maryland physicians. These portraits were donated over the years by the subjects’ families. The collection was appraised by Sotheby’s in 2002. Some portraits were painted by well known artists such as Rembrandt Peale. Most of the portraits are on display throughout the MedChi offices and some are grouped by theme such as the “Founders of Maryland Medicine” outside of Osler Hall. We are in the process of creating short biographies of the physicians in the portraits and digitizing them as an online gallery. Click here to view the gallery.

MedChi also houses a collection of historic medical artifacts. Most of these are on display in MedChi’s Krause Hall and in cases throughout the building. They include: diagnostic instruments, apothecary viles, incubators, and surgical instruments. Many of artifacts in MedChi’s collection were given to the Smithsonian Institution in the 1960s and 1970s and are used in various displays by the Museum of American History.

William Osler, M.D.