The Madhouse
Encyclopedia
The Madhouse or Asylum (Manicomio) is an oil-on-panel painting by Francisco de Goya. He produced it between 1812 and 1819. It shows a mental asylum, with its inhabitants in many different poses.
Marked by a Piranesian and claustrophobic architecture, the painting's only light source is a barred window high up on the wall, clearly meant to repress the figures below. These figures are distinct characters, all engaged in grotesque and pitiable behaviour - one wears what seems to be a wild-feathered headdress, another is fighting in a tricorne
, another makes a gesture of blessing to the viewer, whilst many of the others are naked.
The subject of psychiatric institutions was a hot topic in the salons of the Spanish Enlightenment
and so this painting could be meant as a denunciation of then-current practice in that area. Even if it is not, Goya was always attracted to representing madness, deformity or perversion. Some of the figures can also be interpreted allegorically, as a gallery of parodies of powerful figures in society, such as the clergy or the army (the man in the tricorne hat). It develops the topic of 'the world of dreams' ('mundo al revés') and is related to Goya's engravings series Los disparates.
Goya had already touched on the issue in his 1793 painting Corral de locos, but The Madhouse shows greater variety, with less mad, less picturesque, more individualised and more characterised figures, shown more humanity and clearly marked as poor victims of marginalisation and rejection.
Marked by a Piranesian and claustrophobic architecture, the painting's only light source is a barred window high up on the wall, clearly meant to repress the figures below. These figures are distinct characters, all engaged in grotesque and pitiable behaviour - one wears what seems to be a wild-feathered headdress, another is fighting in a tricorne
Tricorne
The tricorne or tricorn is a style of hat that was popular during the 18th century, falling out of style by 1800. At the peak of its popularity, the tricorne was worn as civilian dress and as part of military and naval uniforms...
, another makes a gesture of blessing to the viewer, whilst many of the others are naked.
The subject of psychiatric institutions was a hot topic in the salons of the Spanish Enlightenment
Enlightenment Spain
The Age of Enlightenment came to Spain in the eighteenth century with a new Bourbon dynasty after the decay of the Spanish economy, bureaucracy, and empire in the latter years of the former Habsburg dynasty...
and so this painting could be meant as a denunciation of then-current practice in that area. Even if it is not, Goya was always attracted to representing madness, deformity or perversion. Some of the figures can also be interpreted allegorically, as a gallery of parodies of powerful figures in society, such as the clergy or the army (the man in the tricorne hat). It develops the topic of 'the world of dreams' ('mundo al revés') and is related to Goya's engravings series Los disparates.
Goya had already touched on the issue in his 1793 painting Corral de locos, but The Madhouse shows greater variety, with less mad, less picturesque, more individualised and more characterised figures, shown more humanity and clearly marked as poor victims of marginalisation and rejection.