Glimpses Into Mental Health History: A Bedlam Exhibition Unveils A Patient's Affection For His Squirrel

(MENAFN- USA Art News) A fascinating Bedlam exhibition at the Bethlem Royal Hospital's Museum of the Mind offers a poignant window into mental health history through the unlikely story of a patient and his beloved pet. The exhibition features a rare artifact connected to James Hadfield, a patient best known for his assassination attempt on King George III. However, this artifact reveals a more intimate side to Hadfield's life within the walls of Bedlam: a drawing and epitaph dedicated to his pet squirrel, Jack.

The Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as Bedlam, boasts a rich and often unsettling history dating back to 1247. Its continued operation as a psychiatric hospital provides a unique perspective on understanding and treating mental illness over centuries. The Museum of the Mind uses its collection to explore this complex journey, often highlighting the powerful connection between art and mental illness. The current exhibition,“Between Sleep and Wakefulness. Hospital Dreams and Visions” (running until November 22nd), includes Hadfield's handwritten memorial to Jack, offering a glimpse into the emotional world of a patient living within the confines of the institution.

Created sometime in the early 19th century, the drawing depicts the dearly departed squirrel. Hadfield's accompanying epitaph expresses heartfelt remorse for Jack's demise. He laments that“my little darling Jack”“almost broke his back from a small fall, and I myself was the cause of it, allowing him to be frightened by a cat.” The elegy speaks to the profound bond between Hadfield and his pet, a creature that, before his untimely end,“danced a hornpipe.” In a final act of remembrance, Hadfield writes,“In memory of his sweet antics, I ordered him to be stuffed.”

Serving a life sentence in Bedlam after being deemed insane for shooting at George III in 1800, Hadfield became something of a local celebrity. Visitors would bring him tobacco, which he traded for his poems and drawings. The surviving elegy for Jack, preserved in the hospital archives, is a rare and touching testament to the importance of companionship and emotional connection within the often-stark environment of a 19th-century mental asylum. The Bedlam exhibition prompts us to reflect on art and mental illness as well as mental health history. It shows the lives and concerns of those often marginalized in history.

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