Removing the Stone of Madness. Medieval trepanation

Another fairly popular plot of the Middle Ages is the removal of the stone of stupidity.
In the Middle Ages and some time later, there was a belief that stupidity and other mental deviations were associated with the fact that there were some extra stones or growths in the human head (hence the Dutch expression “to have a stone in the head” - “to be stupid, crazy, with his head out of place”). And if you remove them, the person will immediately become wiser. Indeed, there were charlatans who were engaged in such operations - alone or with assistants, they wandered from city to city and deceived the simple-minded.
This plot can be traced in Dutch engravings, paintings and literature until the 17th century.

Probably the most famous picture on this plot - “Extraction of the Stone of Stupidity” or “Operation of Stupidity” by Hieronymus Bosch.
This is one of the most early works artist, which has come down to us. It is not yet very perfect in terms of painting, but the semantic side is expressed and developed in great detail, and the artist’s thoughts are conveyed extremely clearly.

The painting “Extracting the Stone” is painted in the form of a tondo (a tondo is a round-shaped painting (short for the Italian rotondo - round). This form of paintings was especially popular in Renaissance Italy, in particular in Florence). In Bosch, and then in Bruegel (apparently, not without the influence of Bosch), we see this format more than once. In the works of Italian artists from Botticelli to Raphael, the tondo is a symbol of the ideal, since a circle is on a plane, and a ball in space, according to the teachings of Plato, is the most ideal figure. But in the Northern Renaissance, and in Bosch first of all, the circle has a different meaning - it is a sign of universality, universality. When Dutch artist encloses some composition in a circle, we must immediately take note that by this he emphasizes that this is not an isolated case, but an allegory of the entire human race.

In “Removing the Stone of Stupidity”, in the middle of a dull, monotonous landscape, a company of four people, it is unclear how they ended up here, settled down. A gray-haired simpleton sits in an armchair next to the table, over whom a charlatan in a long robe is performing some kind of operation. According to Bosch, charlatanism is an integral, obligatory companion of human stupidity. Images of charlatans appear quite often in his works, especially in his early works.

An ornamental inscription on a black background reads: “Master, remove the stone. My name is Lubbert Das.” Lubbert is an impersonal name; in Bosch's time it meant a weak-minded person.

So, a simpleton named Lubbert undergoes an “operation of stupidity” by a charlatan, but contrary to expectations, not a stone is removed from the cut, but a flower; another flower lies on the table. It has been established that these are tulips, and in medieval symbolism a tulip meant stupid gullibility and/or deception (why is not known, but in old dream books this is the meaning of this flower).

The meaning of the operation was to make such an incision, cast a spell over it and, hiding some hard piece in the hand, then show it to the patient. An inverted funnel is depicted on the charlatan’s head - a sign of cunning, deception - an object used for other purposes. In Bosch we will often see this kind of symbols - a thing that is out of place or is not used as it should be, as a sign of some unnaturalness. On the head of the Beguine nun, who is present here as a companion of the charlatan, lies a book - another sign of false wisdom (a book placed on a woman’s head was understood as a “guide” for swindlers and deceivers). Knowledge is placed not inside, but outside. According to another version, the closed book on the nun's head and the surgeon's funnel respectively symbolize that knowledge is useless when dealing with stupidity, and that healing of this kind is quackery.
If you look closely, in the landscape, among the brownish-red plains, an image of a gallows appears as a sign of inevitable retribution, perhaps not in this world, but in some distant future. The gallows, the wheel as an instrument of torture and execution, are very common in Bosch’s backgrounds, then these motifs will also be present in Bruegel, it symbolizes the evil of this world.

The painting "Extracting the Stone" was apparently a success and after it a lot of other paintings with the same plot appeared.

B. Removing the rocks in the head-1550-1599

Jan Sanders van Hemessen_1554-1560

Another fairly popular plot of the Middle Ages is the removal of the stone of stupidity.
In the Middle Ages and some time later, there was a belief that stupidity and other mental deviations were associated with the fact that there were some extra stones or growths in the human head (hence the Dutch expression “to have a stone in the head” - “to be stupid, crazy, with his head out of place”). And if you remove them, the person will immediately become wiser. Indeed, there were charlatans who were engaged in such operations - alone or with assistants, they wandered from city to city and deceived the simple-minded.
This plot can be traced in Dutch engravings, paintings and literature until the 17th century.

Probably the most famous painting on this subject is “Extraction of the Stone of Stupidity” or “Operation of Stupidity” by Hieronymus Bosch.
This is one of the earliest works of the artist that has come down to us. It is not yet very perfect in terms of painting, but the semantic side is expressed and developed in great detail, and the artist’s thoughts are conveyed extremely clearly.

The painting “Extracting the Stone” was painted in the form of a tondo (a tondo is a round painting (short for the Italian rotondo - round). This form of painting was especially popular in Renaissance Italy, in particular in Florence). In Bosch, and then in Bruegel (apparently, not without the influence of Bosch), we see this format more than once. In the works Italian artists from Botticelli to Raphael, the tondo is a symbol of the ideal, since a circle on a plane, and a ball in space, according to the teachings of Plato, is the most ideal figure. But in the Northern Renaissance, and in Bosch first of all, the circle has a different meaning - it is a sign of universality, universality. When a Dutch artist encloses a composition in a circle, we must immediately take note that by doing this he emphasizes that this is not an isolated case, but an allegory of the entire human race.

In “Removing the Stone of Stupidity”, in the middle of a dull, monotonous landscape, a company of four people, it is unclear how they ended up here, settled down. A gray-haired simpleton sits in an armchair next to the table, over whom a charlatan in a long robe is performing some kind of operation. According to Bosch, charlatanism is an integral, obligatory companion of human stupidity. Images of charlatans appear quite often in his works, especially in his early works.

An ornamental inscription on a black background reads: “Master, remove the stone. My name is Lubbert Das.” Lubbert is an impersonal name; in Bosch's time it meant a weak-minded person.

So, a simpleton named Lubbert undergoes an “operation of stupidity” by a charlatan, but contrary to expectations, not a stone is removed from the cut, but a flower; another flower lies on the table. It has been established that these are tulips, and in medieval symbolism a tulip meant stupid gullibility and/or deception (why is not known, but in old dream books this is the meaning of this flower).

The meaning of the operation was to make such an incision, cast a spell over it and, hiding some hard piece in the hand, then show it to the patient. An inverted funnel is depicted on the charlatan’s head - a sign of cunning, deception - an object used for other purposes. In Bosch we will often see this kind of symbols - a thing that is out of place or is not used as it should be, as a sign of some unnaturalness. On the head of the Beguine nun, who is present here as a companion of the charlatan, lies a book - another sign of false wisdom (a book placed on a woman’s head was understood as a “guide” for swindlers and deceivers). Knowledge is placed not inside, but outside. According to another version, the closed book on the nun's head and the surgeon's funnel respectively symbolize that knowledge is useless when dealing with stupidity, and that healing of this kind is quackery.
If you look closely, in the landscape, among the brownish-red plains, an image of a gallows appears as a sign of inevitable retribution, perhaps not in this world, but in some distant future. The gallows, the wheel as an instrument of torture and execution, are very common in Bosch’s backgrounds, then these motifs will also be present in Bruegel, it symbolizes the evil of this world.

The painting "Extracting the Stone" was apparently a success and after it a lot of other paintings with the same plot appeared.

B. Removing the rocks in the head-1550-1599

Jan Sanders van Hemessen_1554-1560

Cultured people are well aware of the painting “The Extraction of the Stone of Folly,” which is attributed to Hieronymus Bosch.

A high-quality photo of the painting in full size can be viewed on the Prado website

There are other similar paintings.

Jan van Hemessen. "Surgeon". Also from Prado. For a high-quality photo of the painting, see.

It is usually believed that these paintings depict charlatans and in the comments to such paintings they write: “In the Middle Ages and some time later, there was a belief that stupidity and other mental deviations are associated with the fact that there are some extra things in the human head stones, growths (hence the Dutch expression “to have a stone in the head” - “to be stupid, crazy, with your head out of place”). And if they are removed, the person will immediately become wiser. Indeed, there were charlatans who were engaged in such operations - themselves or with assistants, they wandered from city to city and deceived the simple-minded. The meaning of the operation was to make such an incision, cast a spell over it and, hiding some hard piece in the hand, then show it to the patient."

But maybe not everything is so simple? Let's think about it.

Operations to remove the “stones of stupidity” chronologically and geographically coincide with the “witch hunt.” This means that at that time Western Europe There was a flourishing of the occult and occult practices. Why not assume that among other occult practices there was also a healing practice similar to the practice of Filipino healers?

Here the main question again is how to relate to the practice of Filipino healers. They are usually considered charlatans. However, there are hundreds of amateur films made by Americans who came to the Philippines with serious, sometimes incurable diseases, and returned completely healthy. Doctors who examined these patients before and after treatment were often confused.

In 1971, a young American named Doug Vokes, who had a bachelor's degree in psychology, happened to see one of these films at his friend's apartment in San Jose, California. What he saw shocked him so much that he left the United States and became a student of Filipino healers. For several years he lived with them, traveling through deserts and jungles and preaching gospel sermons in tiny Espiritist chapels. During these travels, he received instructions from a spirit who spoke through a medium. He was first trained in magnetic healing by the laying on of hands. He was asked to practice this widely simplest form healing, saying that through this he would deepen the degree of his dedication.

Espiritists believe that surgical “gifts” are nothing more than a transitory tool that is used by the spirit mainly to manifest itself to people who feel the need for miracles. Often, healers materialize something like plastic or tobacco leaf during an operation., arguing that it is the embodiment of evil thoughts in a person - perhaps entered into him as a result of a psychic attack by another person or spirit. Vokes, who eventually acquired the gift of fulfillment surgical operations, explains it this way:

“Your hands simply become a point that focuses the power coming from the source to which you have prayed and called upon.

When I begin to massage the skin (of the patient) with my hands, I could tell that it is parting because I can see it. However, my arms lose sensation right up to the elbows... In reality, it is not the arms that sink into the body, but the affected area moves towards the arms - as if they were a magnet... Individual cells are not cut, but are separated from each other without damage. In this case, the healer's hand serves as an auxiliary force, keeping the tissues separated and connecting them together.

When I performed my first operation, I was no less amazed than the people watching it... I could not control it. It happened by itself" (quoted from: Mishlav D. Roots of Consciousness. - K., 1995, p. 224).

In the film "Shocking Asia", I think in the third episode, it is shown how, during a "healing" operation, the eyes of a sick girl "crawl out" small pebbles. Why not assume that in Europe XVI- In the 17th centuries, there were also some kind of “healers” who performed similar Kunststyuki operations? All kinds of stones and " stone flowers" materialized and “fell out” as if from my head. The patient saw with his own eyes the cause of his illness removed from his body, and was healed.

And the fact that stones can materialize under certain circumstances is evidenced by numerous cases of poltergeists.

1475-1480 oil on wood Prado Museum Madrid

One of the earliest works of the artist that has come down to us is called "Removing the Stone of Folly", where we return again to the motif of stupidity. She is not yet very perfect in terms of picturesqueness. Not quite anatomically correct, somewhat dry drawing; rather monochrome, reddish color; poorly developed landscape in the interior. But the semantic side is expressed and developed in great detail, and the artist’s thoughts are conveyed extremely clearly.

First of all, let's pay attention to the tondo format itself. In Bosch, and then in Bruegel (apparently, not without Bosch’s influence), we will see this format more than once. We celebrated the harmony of Italian tondos from Filippo Lippi and Botticelli to Raphael. But if for Italian artists the round format is a symbol of the ideal, since a circle on a plane, and a ball in space, according to the teachings of Plato, is the most ideal figure, then in the Northern Renaissance, including Bosch, and first of all, the circle has another meaning is a sign of universality, worldliness. When a Dutch artist encloses a composition in a circle, we must immediately take note that by doing this he emphasizes that this is not an isolated case, but an allegory of the entire human race. In “Removing the Stone of Stupidity”, in the middle of a dull, monotonous landscape, a company of four people, it is unclear how they ended up here, settled down. A gray-haired simpleton is sitting in a chair next to the table, on whom some kind of action is being performed.

In the Middle Ages and some time later, there was a belief that stupidity and other mental deviations were associated with the fact that there were some extra stones or growths in the human head. And if you remove them, the person will immediately become wiser. Indeed, there were charlatans who were engaged in such operations - alone or with assistants, they wandered from city to city and deceived the simple-minded. According to Bosch, charlatanism is an integral, obligatory companion of human stupidity. Images of charlatans appear quite often in his works, especially in his early works.
So, the charlatan in a long robe makes a cut in the scalp of the simpleton, who, according to the inscription, is called Lubbert, a fairly common and therefore impersonal name in the Netherlands, and from this small wound grows a tulip, which often symbolizes deception. Why is not known, but old dream books record this meaning of this flower. The point of the operation was to make such an incision, cast a spell over it and, hiding some hard piece in your hand, then show it to the patient. An inverted funnel is depicted on the charlatan’s head - a sign of cunning, deception - an object used for other purposes. In Bosch we will often see this kind of symbols - a thing that is out of place or is not used as it should be, as a sign of some unnaturalness. On the head of the Beguine nun, who is present here as the companion of the charlatan, lies a book - another sign of false wisdom. Knowledge is placed not inside, but outside.
It must be said that sometimes it is difficult to get used to the figurative and symbolic thinking of that era, because in the times of Bosch and Bruegel, even glasses were often perceived and culturally interpreted not as a sign of imperfect vision, but as a symbol of the imperfection of human nature, as a sign of lies and deception, not natural, and artificial vision. A person lacks insight, and therefore he uses “crutches” for his eyes.
A monk is also depicted giving some kind of incendiary speech, holding a jug of wine in his hands. In Bosch, there are often figures of monks in negative, sometimes very acute, semi-decent situations, and not only monks, but also the clergy. This does not at all indicate that the master is anti-religious; on the contrary, it is a satire that castigates bad shepherds, bad monks, bad priests. No one has ever denied that there are such people among the church ministers. Bosch and Bruegel, following him, do not spare the hierarchs in this case, starting from the pope and ending with the bishops and clergy - abbots, priests, the last servants and clerics in the temple.
If you look closely, in the landscape, among the brownish-red plains, an image of a gallows appears as a sign of inevitable retribution, perhaps not in this world, but in some distant future. The gallows, the wheel as an instrument of torture and execution, appear very often in the backgrounds of Bosch, and then these motifs will also be present in Bruegel.

JEROME BOSCH.Extraction of the Stone of Stupidity (Operation of Stupidity).1475-1480.Oil on board. 48; 35 cm Prado, Madrid

One of the earliest works of the artist that has come down to us.
When a Dutch artist encloses a composition in a circle, we must immediately take note that by doing this he emphasizes that this is not an isolated incident, but an allegory of the entire human race.

At first glance, this depicts an ordinary, though dangerous operation, which the surgeon for some reason carries out under open air, placing a funnel on his head. Probably, the character of the fairground farce is being ridiculed here - a simpleton or a cuckolded husband (the book placed on a woman’s head was understood as a “guide” for swindlers and deceivers).

The upside-down funnel placed on the surgeon's head has been explained as a hint of the learned husband's absent-mindedness, but in the context of the farce it most likely serves as a sign of deception.

According to another version, the closed book on the nun's head and the surgeon's funnel, respectively, symbolize that knowledge is useless when dealing with stupidity, and that healing of this kind is quackery.

Indeed, there were charlatans who were engaged in such operations - alone or with assistants, they wandered from city to city and deceived the simple-minded.

If you look closely, in the landscape, among the brownish-red plains, an image of a gallows appears as a sign of inevitable retribution, perhaps not in this world, but in some distant future. The gallows, the wheel as an instrument of torture and execution, appear very often in the backgrounds of Bosch, and then these motifs will also be present in Bruegel.

The Dutch expression “to have a stone in your head” meant “to be stupid, crazy, with your head out of place.” The plot of the removal of the “stone of stupidity” can be traced in Dutch engravings, paintings and literature up to the 17th century.

The ornamental inscription at the top and bottom reads: “Master, remove the stone. My name is Lubbert Das." In Bosch's time there was a belief that a madman could be cured if the stones of stupidity were removed from his head. Lubbert is a common noun meaning weak-minded. In the picture, contrary to expectations, it is not a stone that is removed, but a flower; another flower lies on the table. It has been established that these are tulips, and in medieval symbolism a tulip implied stupid gullibility.

In 1956, there were attempts to explain the connection between stone and flower, turning to old dictionaries. It has been established that the word "tulpe" has a connotation (connection) with stupidity, carnations are associated with the word "keyken" (a little stone). Perhaps Bosch turned to symbols to depict flowers instead of stones.

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