HERBOLARIA Y PINTURA MURAL: PLANTAS MEDICINALES EN LOS MURALES DEL CONVENTO DEL DIVINO SALVADOR DE MALINALCO, ESTADO DE MÉXICO

Abstract

In pre-Hispanic times Malinalco was an
important ceremonial center and probably
one of ideological and economic control.
To reinforce the process of evangelization
after the conquest the Augustinian convent
of San Cristobal, now known as the Divino
Salvador, was founded in 1540. After being
built, the walls and vaults were decorated
by native artists with Biblical scenes, exotic plants, and various species of animals.
Analyses of these murals indicate that all
natural elements illustrated had a specific
meaning to the ancient Mexican culture.
With the intention of determining plant
species represented in the frescoes, the
medicinal uses in the time in which they
were painted, and the possible continuity of
their use up to the present day, we compared
the plants in the frescoes with the present
flora and the plants illustrated in different
codices. We reviewed their prehispanic and
current uses, as well as their distribution. We
identified 31 different species of medicinal
plants in the frescoes belonging to 25 families. Twenty-one plants were identified as to
species, and 10 were identified to the level of
related species. Of the plants identified in the
murals 90.4% are naturally distributed in the
Americas, and 42% are unique to Mexico.
Of the plants identified 90% were useful in
pre-Hispanic times. However, only 77.4%
are currently used, which may indicate a loss
of use of some plants, especially those of
magical-religious use in pre-Hispanic times.
However, today’s culture has been enriched
by the addition of species introduced with the
conquest, such as grapes (Vitis vinifera) and
a rose (Rosa aff. canina), and by the use of
a plant for treating one or various ailments
or the use of various plants for the same
disease. The most frequent categories of use
in both pre-Hispanic and present times are
related to gastrointestinal and dermatological
diseases, as well as ill-defined symptoms
and diseases.