The stone of madness: Charcot’s interest in a copy after Pieter Bruegel Sr. as referred to by Henry Meige

Abstract

ABSTRACT Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) is known to have possessed interesting works of art, e.g. Jan Steen’s Marriage at Cana. In 1899, his pupil and colleague Henry Meige (1866–1940) wrote that Charcot had been interested in a painting (after a drawing) by Bruegel, named Les Arracheurs de Pierres de Teste. At the time the painting belonged to Charcot’s contemporary Ernest Mesnet (1825–1898). When Charcot visited Mesnet, he offered him a considerable amount of money. The owner did not want to sell it, but promised to leave it to Charcot in his will. As Charcot died earlier than Mesnet, the painting went to the latter’s heirs. In 1899, it was possessed by dermatologist dr. Paul de Molènes-Mahon (b. 1857). Meige published an article, in which he criticized the quality of the copy. Surgeon Henri Gaudier (1866–1942) wrote about the original painting in the Museum of St. Omer and confirmed Meige’s opinion about the copy. I will illustrate the St. Omer painting and describe Meige’s and Gaudier’s comments by comparing it with the black & white copy in Meige’s 1899 article. My study looks at Charcot as a collector of paintings, which is a minimally studied topic. He may have been interested in the Paris Bruegel copy for clinical and medical-historical reasons, rather than on aesthetic grounds.