'Psychosurgery' in renaissance art.
Hieronymus Bosch and other early Renaissance artists depicted 'stone operations' in which stones were supposedly surgically removed from the head as a treatment for mental illness. These works have usually been interpreted either as portraying a contemporary practice of medical charlatans or as an allegory of human folly, rather than a real event. As trepanation for head injury and mental disease was actually carried out in Europe at this time, another interpretation of these works is that they are derived from a common medical practice of the day.
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Dept of Psychology, Princeton University, NJ 08540, USA.
D004741:Engraving and Engravings / Q000266:history*; D005060:Europe; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D008512:Medicine in the Arts; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery; D010151:Paintings / Q000266:history*; D011612:Psychosurgery / Q000266:history*; D014207:Trephining / Q000266:history