"Stones of Madness": Shocking Examples of Medieval Healing on the Canvases of Dutch Masters

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Sometimes, learning all the new realities of the era Middle ages, you never cease to be amazed at the stupidity and limitations of that society in some areas of knowledge. In the 15th century, people believed that the cause of all mental disorders was allegedly the "stone of madness", which is located in the head. Therefore, it was "extracted" by craniotomy.

Historical facts from the life of people of the Middle Ages sometimes amaze the modern man in the street with their stupidity and primitiveness. So, there is a series of paintings that reflect the methods of treatment by the then healers of human madness. Each of the canvases depicts the process of craniotomy, from where the “root of all evil” - the stone of madness - comes from.

By the way, in ancient times, surgery was developed in countries such as Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Ancient Greece. But with the onset of the Middle Ages, almost all knowledge of medicine was forgotten, and human consciousness degraded. Only in the Renaissance did doctors turn to ancient treatises. But even here they sometimes misinterpreted everything. Through the paintings of Dutch artists of the 15th century, modern people can learn how the healing of that time took place. The stones of madness, as the source of human ailments, are mostly the inventions of charlatans. However, the more shameless the lie, the easier it is to believe in it.

The earliest canvas dedicated to the plot of the extraction of the stone of madness was written Hieronymus Bosch and dates back to 1475-1480. In the picture, you can see several clues indicating the absurdity of what is happening. An inverted funnel instead of a doctor's cap reflects his closeness, a woman with a book on her head symbolizes a science that is not being used for its intended purpose. Instead of blood, a tulip sticks out of the patient's head, which is the personification of the doctor's profit in his charlatan affairs, or confirms the proverb "tulip bulb in the head", which means that a person "does not have everything at home."

In the paintings of other Dutch masters, you can also find plots of the "stone of madness". This theme was popular until the 17th century, which indicates that the "extraction" of the stone of madness has been practiced for several centuries.

Interest in the era of the Middle Ages does not fade to this day. Internet users are constantly posting on the web funny signatures for medieval paintings. This original trend has appeared recently and continues to gain momentum.