The iconography of alienation

Throughout history, culturally and socially, the perception of madness has notably evolved due to various factors, including different perspectives driven by religion, philosophy, science, and popular beliefs. Anthropologically, madness has been understood in different cultures as the imminent meaning of the demonic, while in others it has been perceived as an illness. But how is madness understood today?

According to the Royal Spanish Academy, madness has several meanings:

1. Lack of judgment or use of reason. 
2. Utter folly or great misjudgment. 
3. Action that, due to its unusual nature, causes surprise. 
4. Elevation of the spirit or spirits produced by some affection or other incentive. 

The word «madness» is used in our dialogue to define something or someone as extraordinary, outside the ordinary. This societal phenomenon intensified certain rejection in society, generating general discomfort. Along with this strange behavior, the earliest and most primitive studies of human behavior emerged. 

In this sense, classical Greek medicine, understood that madness or «melancholy» was a disease mainly caused by one of the four total bodily humors. According to the physician Hippocrates, «melancholy» or black bile associated these symptoms with psychic and physical defects, which if not healed correctly would be considered demonic possession. (López Saco, 2007).  

This Greek thought was inherited by the Romans, who understood black bile as part of the «pathé» , which in turn is associated with the Greek term «pathos», linked to imbalance, frenzy and fury. 

Although madness was perceived by Latin culture as truly worrisome, on some occasions it would form part of religious rites and ceremonies. Where, during the process, they ingested natural substances to reach this state of alienation. In this sense, the bacchanalias follow the pattern established by the Hellenistic conception of madness, which passed into Roman culture as a festive legacy in honor of the god of wine. These festivals have gone down in history for their excess and libertinism, as well as sexual practices and behavioral alteration. (Quirosa García, 2007).

During the Middle Ages, conduct and social values reflected a strong link with the new theological vision. With the arrival of Christianity, madness was understood as synonymous with sin, hence a possession or contract with the devil, which was seen as personification of evil and enemy of good. In this sense, every madman or unbalanced individual would likely be accused of being a witch, sorcerer, or heretic, who to be cured had to be treated through an exorcism (Berenguer, 2018).

On the other hand, it was believed that all madmen possessed a stone inside their minds which obstructed rationality in man, causing faults in his judgment. To cure this ailment, certain interventions were carried out, consisting of making a small hole in the skull to access and remove the stone (Valera Sandoval and Villalobos Morera, 2014).

This marginalized social group would be a great source of inspiration for artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as it became fashionable to depict reality from a somewhat romanticized perspective. It was especially through Gericault's canvases where we see how his brushstrokes frame a perfect vision of the physiognomy of the ill (Calvo Santos, 2007).

During the commission of ten paintings for subsequent study of each of the different diseases depicted, he would represent in all its splendor various psychological pathologies related to gambling addiction, kleptomania, pedophilia or neurotic jealousy, as seen in this marvelous painting.

In it, we see an elderly woman represented in three-quarters and differentiated from the neutral background on which she is depicted, allowing us to observe with greater detail the neurosis that afflicts her, which is perfectly reflected in her emaciated face and lost gaze. 

An undervalued being by their own society, treated as a madman and deprived of the norms and moral conduct of man. It was especially during these years when they entered asylums, that is, specialized centers in the behavior of these individuals with premature care needs, where on numerous occasions they were mistreated and injured by radical healing practices, leading them in extreme cases to death (Calvos Santo, 2007). 

Although madness was not only represented in the works of our artists, but also they themselves would be participants due to social, cultural and emotional conditions that led them to suffer it. One of the closest artists to this social group was Francisco de Goya and Lucientes, who created a series of works related to the world of the absurd and the grotesque. In addition to his prints and engravings, he produced throughout his artistic career numerous canvases associated with this social problem as a result of the impact that the reprisals of the War of Independence would leave on his conscience. (Pérez Fernández and Peñarda Ortega, 2017)

We can see this in his work titled «The House of Madmen» where he represents a group of enraptured, who regardless of personal deficiency are congregated in a single room separated from society. 

In addition to Goya, there are other artists who reflected their madness in their art, such as the renowned Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, posthumously recognized mainly for his impressionist paintings marked by his strong innovative character resulting from the various disorders he suffered and which tragically would mark his tragic destiny or other more contemporary artists like Picasso who shows in his works a strong fascination with these marginalized social figures, who will serve as objects of study and main characters for numerous of his own works belonging to the so-called «blue period» which is characterized mainly by its blue tones and whose eyes are filled with melancholy, suffering , poverty and loneliness. 

Conclusions

The representation of madness in art throughout history not only reveals the evolution of social perceptions about mental health but also the capacity of art to capture the complexity and fragility of the human mind. From mythological visions to more contemporary expressions, art has served as a reflection of cultural attitudes towards madness, challenging stigmas and providing space for empathy and understanding. 

As we move forward in time, artistic representation of madness remains a powerful tool for exploring the diversity of human experiences and fostering dialogue around mental health in our society. 

Bibliography 

Berenguer, A. (2018). A Brief History of Madness. Ser Historico. Portal de Historia. https://serhistorico.net/2018/01/20/breve-historia-de-la-locura/. 

Calvo Santos, M. (2016). The Madmen: Five Portraits of the Mentally Ill by Gericault.

https://historia-arte.com/articulos/los-locos-locos-retratos-de-gericault . 

López Saco, J (2007). Wisdoms of Ancient Cultures.  

https://asiahistoria.blogspot.com/2007/06/la-locura-en-la-antigedad-roma-y-prximo.html

Pérez Fernández, F. and Peñaranda Ortega, M. (2017). The Debate on Asylums in the 19th and 20th Centuries: The Case of Nellie Bly. Revista de la Asociación Española de Neuropsiquiatría.

https://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0211-57352017000100006.

Quirosa, García, Victoria (2007). Approach to the Plastic Representation of Madness in the West. Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, (1), 52-82. 

Valera Sandoval, M.A. and Villalobos Morera, L.D (2014). From Art to Madness and from Madness to Art: The Expression of Genius in Pathology. Revista Wimblu, (2), 45-59.