The Man Who Crucified Himself: Readings of a Medical Case in Nineteenth-Century Europe by Maria Böhmer

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Man Who Crucified Himself: Readings of a Medical Case in Nineteenth-Century Europe by Maria Böhmer Alexandra Bamji Maria Böhmer. The Man Who Crucified Himself: Readings of a Medical Case in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Clio Medica, vol. 97. Leiden: Brill, 2019. 313 pp. Ill. (978-90-04-35359-6). One morning in Venice in July 1805, a shoemaker was found hanging out of the window of his room, nailed to a wooden cross. Mattio Lovat was taken down by passersby and admitted to a hospital. He died a year later in a mental asylum. This book traces how Lovat's story became a widely cited case history in nineteenth-century Europe through close analyses of texts referring to Lovat that were published in Italian, French, German, and English. The publications and publication strategy of Cesare Ruggieri, a surgeon who treated Lovat, were central to the diffusion of the case. Ruggieri's narrative first appeared in Italian in 1806 as a twelve-page illustrated text within a compilation. An expanded French edition was published in the same year as a stand-alone text, a German translation in 1807, and another Italian edition in 1814. These narratives discussed Lovat's behavior before and after the events of July 1805, including his self-castration in 1802, another attempted self-crucifixion in 1803, and his refusal of food and "excessive" sunbathing while in the mental asylum of San Servolo. [End Page 527] In evaluating these texts, Böhmer explores connections with the tradition of observationes, arguing that observation was a cognitive endeavor for Ruggieri. The author then uses Stanley Fish's concept of "interpretative communities" to frame her analysis of various professional and popular readings of the case. Although she explicitly seeks to complicate national contexts as an analytical category (p. 19), the emphases of these readings varied in different geographical contexts. Böhmer finds that religious interpretations were prominent in German texts, connected to contemporary concerns with Schwärmerei or religious enthusiasts. These narratives explored whether Lovat was a false prophet in seeking to imitate Christ or the evangelist Matthew and used the case to promote an enlightened and rational understanding of religion. In France, the case contributed to developments in psychiatry, and the aliénistes used Lovat's case as an example of religious madness as they sought to classify mental disorders. In England, Lovat's case became embedded in popular discourse as an example in collections of eccentric lives. In Italy itself, Lovat's case was rarely discussed in the nineteenth century, but became established as a "famous suicide case" (p. 204) due to its inclusion in Alfredo Comandini's encyclopedia of Italian national history, published between 1907 and 1942. The book is clearly written and grounded in relevant scholarship throughout. Although largely a study of the trajectory of a single case history, it includes details of other intriguing cases, such as one published by the same surgeon about the genital ulcers of two sisters who allowed a poodle to lick them for sexual satisfaction. There are useful insights into the membership of medical societies and the role of the presentation and publication of case histories in their activity. The book's analysis of the categorization of religious madness in France is particularly rich and produces an argument of broader importance: that "once an interpretative community is influential enough and has established a certain reading of the case, this interpretation remains relatively stable and unquestioned" (p. 185). The scrutiny of the German translation is also fascinating. Julius Heinrich Gottlieb Schlegel, the translator, added footnotes at points in Ruggieri's narrative which spoke to his own interests, connecting Lovat to case histories on which he had published. As Böhmer explains, Schlegel used his translation and commentary both to "engage scientifically with Ruggieri" and "to display his specialist knowledge and expertise" (p. 110). All the same, while Böhmer engages with debates about publication and the professionalization of medicine, I would have liked more critical reflection on the idea of professionalism. There might also have been scope for more discussion of the implications of the author's analysis of Ruggieri's illustrations and their subsequent reproduction for...