Experiencing the Asylum

Abstract

Here (and in Chapter 9 ), we shift our gaze to the asylum experience of pellagra, focusing on Venice’s two insane asylums: San Servolo (for men) and San Clemente (for women). The two chapters are organised around the ‘life cycle’ of male and female sufferers at the two asylums: from local referral and admission, through to treatment, and ending either with release back into the community or death. Being photographed upon admission became a standard part of the patient experience and we shall see how the patient photograph became a clinical tool. The photographic record can help us restore patient agency to the asylum experience. Who were the pellagrous insane represented in these sometimes harrowing photographs? What can a patient typology tell us about the nature of the disease and how it compares to ‘regular’ or non-pellagrous insanity? To answer these questions we look at the gendering of pellagrous insanity, as well as other factors such as age, social status and geographical origins, before turning to the treatments offered—diet, medicines and work-related activities—and the notion of ‘curability’.