Vier portretten van vrouwen met een psychische aandoening before 1876

These four portraits of women with psychiatric disorders, were made at an unknown date by an anonymous artist. Their display within the Rijksmuseum invites us to consider the historical and social contexts of mental health. What strikes me is how these images, while aiming for scientific documentation, inevitably reflect the biases of their time. The women are presented as subjects of study, their identities reduced to their diagnoses. It's impossible to ignore the power dynamics at play here: who gets to define "normal," and what are the consequences for those who don't fit the mold? The artist would have us believe that the women are defined by their illnesses, but I wonder about their lives beyond these diagnoses, their experiences, and the stories they could tell. These images offer a glimpse into a past where mental illness was often stigmatized and misunderstood. But they also remind us of the importance of empathy, understanding, and challenging the labels that society imposes on us.