The stone of madness, also called stone of folly, was a hypothetical stone in a patient's head, thought to be the cause of madness,
idiocy
An idiot, in modern use, is a stupid or foolish person.
'Idiot' was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot ...
or
dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
. From the 15th century onwards, removing the stone by
trepanation
Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb ''trepan'' derives from Old French from Medieval Latin from Greek , literally "borer, auger"), is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drille ...
was proposed as a remedy. This procedure is demonstrated in the painting ''
The Extraction of the Stone of Madness'' by
Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...
.
Gallery
File:Quentin Massys 030.jpg, Quentin Massys
Quentin Matsys ( nl, Quinten Matsijs) (1466–1530) was a Flemish painter in the Early Netherlandish tradition. He was born in Leuven. There is a tradition alleging that he was trained as an ironsmith before becoming a painter. Matsys was activ ...
, ''An Allegory of Folly'' (early 16th century). The fool
Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to:
*A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes
*An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...
has a "stone of folly" in his forehead.
File:Pieter Huys A surgeon extracting the stone of folly.jpg, Pieter Huys
Pieter Huys (c.1519 – c.1584) was a Flemish Renaissance painter.
He is known of his early life, and though he was mostly active in Antwerp, his place of birth and death is not certain. He became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1545 ...
, ''A surgeon extracting the stone of folly''
File:Hemessen-cirujano-prado.jpg, Jan Sanders van Hemessen
Jan Sanders van Hemessen (c. 1500 – c. 1566) was a leading Flemish Renaissance painter, belonging to the group of Italianizing Flemish painters called the Romanists, who were influenced by Italian Renaissance painting. Van Hemessen had v ...
, 1550s
File:Het_snijden_van_de_kei._Rijksmuseum_SK-A-1601.jpeg, After Hieronymus Bosch, 16th century
File:Pieter Jansz Quast - Die Steinoperation, um 1630.jpg, Pieter Jansz. Quast,
''Die Steinoperation'', ca 1630
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone Of madness
History of neuroscience