Sífilis: Curación absoluta y radical en el Sanatorio, 1900 Spain poster: An elegant woman in a pink shawl holds a white lily

Sífilis: Curación absoluta y radical en el Sanatorio para sifilíticos (Syphilis: Absolute and Radical Cure at the Sanatorium for Syphilitics)

An elegant woman in a pink shawl holds a white lily; behind her back, knotted into the shawl, a small dark snake hangs unseen. The word 'Sífilis' is drawn with serpentine letters and the text offers 'absolute and radical cure' at a private sanatorium. Fear-appeal tell: hidden danger behind an innocent surface, followed at once by the seller's remedy.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Fear appeal

Date: 1900
Period: Pre-1914
Made by: Sanatorio para sifilíticos (Dr Abreu), Barcelona (design by Ramon Casas, printed by J. Thomas)

Full record

Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Theme, Source, Rights

Region: Western and Central Europe
Country: Spain
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: Corporation
Regime: Spanish Restoration Monarchy
Leader: Alfonso Xiii
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Mobilize or secure compliance
Theme: Health
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: Wellcome Collection (London), work b17527211, reference 752721i, retrieved September 29, 2026
Rights: Public domain (Wellcome Collection Public Domain Mark; published c. 1900)
Wellcome Collection

Text on the object

Original (Spanish) · read from the image, not independently checked

SÍFILIS
Curación
absoluta y radical
en el
Sanatorio para sifilíticos
Calle Mayor de la Bonanova · 74 ·
Para mas informes al Dr. Abreu, calle Vergara · 10 · Barcelona
ó en el mismo establecimiento
al Administrador Sr. Rumiá

[Signature on image:] R. Casas
[Printer, lower left:] J. THOMAS — BARCELONA

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

Syphilis. Absolute and radical cure at the Sanatorium for Syphilitics, Calle Mayor de la Bonanova 74. For more information, [ask] Dr Abreu, Calle Vergara 10, Barcelona, or at the establishment itself the administrator Mr Rumiá.

The administrator's surname is read as 'Rumiá'; the final letters are small and may be misread. Abbreviation punctuation (Dr., Sr.) follows the printed form as closely as legible.