Stone of madness explained

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 or dementia. From the 15th century onwards, removing the stone by trepanation was proposed as a remedy.^{[1] [2]} This procedure is demonstrated in the painting The Extraction of the Stone of Madness by Hieronymus Bosch.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Book: Vigué, Jordi . Great Masters of Western Art . Watson-Guptill . 2002 . registration . 71 . 0-8230-2113-0 .
2. Book: Shorter, Edward . A History of Psychiatry . 1997 . Wiley . registration . 225 . 0-471-24531-3 .
3. News: Elisabetta. Povoledo. In Rome, a New Museum Invites a Hands-On Approach to Insanity . . October 27, 2008 . 2008-10-28 .