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Art in the asylum
What is the value of art created in the asylum, and who has the right to decide how it’s used? These are some of the questions raised by the Adamson Collection – 5,500 paintings, drawings and sculptures by people (mainly… Continue reading
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Alchemical images revisited
Does monumental Truth lurk behind the colourful alchemical imagery of manuscripts held at the Wellcome Library? Images of this kind have fascinated scholars and artists for centuries, their rich symbolism being drawn on by Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Dryden, Goethe, Hugo,… Continue reading
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Using creativity to bridge the mental health divide
For the seventh in our series on the Asylum and Beyond, Victoria Tischler considers creativity as a way to share experiences of mental illness. I’ve been thinking about the line between those living with mental health problems and without. As… Continue reading
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Wound man Part 2: afterlives
The remarkable manuscript image of the wound man did not die with the medieval medical world that created it, finding a rich afterlife in the Renaissance and beyond. With the adoption of new print technologies in the second half of… Continue reading
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Wound man Part 1: origins
The ‘wound man’ is an enigmatic and troubling figure from the world of medieval and early modern medical manuscripts. Staring impassively out of the page, he bears a multitude of graphic wounds. His skin is covered in bleeding… Continue reading