"An ear from a herring!" - from the brilliant old movie "Vabank"
Scientists have learned the true truth with whom the mentally handicapped, but at the same time absolutely brilliant Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh shared his cut, bloody ear, solemnly presenting his lady with a rounding from above, like a festive bagel for tea … The mystery was revealed almost 130 years later. It was an unfortunate, impoverished prostitute, whose fate after this "gift" suddenly went up … So, not only pure madness ?!
The woman who received Van Gogh's ear from the hands of the maestro was the farmer's daughter Gabriel Berlatier, who worked … in a brothel. Her name appears in the records of the Institut Pasteur in Paris, where a woman was treated for rabies after a dog bite.
Medical records show that 18-year-old Gabrielle Berlatier at the time lived in a village ten kilometers east of Arles. On January 8, 1888, she was bitten by a dog. The dog was shot, after which it was discovered that he had rabies. The girl was urgently taken to Paris, where she was injected with a new vaccine against rabies, which saved her life.
Gabrielle's expensive medical treatment put her family into debt and for this reason she took a job in a brothel. It is noted that she was too young to be registered as a prostitute, so she was listed there as a servant.
The incident with the severed ear is connected with the arrival at the end of October 1888 in Arles, where Van Gogh and his colleagues in the workshop of Paul Gauguin lived. The discussion by the artists of the idea of creating a southern painting workshop was accompanied by conflicts and quarrels. As a result, on the evening of December 23, after another quarrel, Van Gogh pounced on a friend with a razor. Gauguin managed to avoid injury only by chance.
However, on the same disastrous night, Van Gogh cut off his ear - entirely, and not one lobe, as previously thought. Some believe that this was done in a fit of a kind of remorse due to a conflict with a friend. Other researchers believe that this was caused by an attack of insanity caused by the frequent use of absinthe.
Be that as it may, having cut off his ear, Van Gogh went to the young prostitute and tried to push it into her … It is known that it was a whole "ceremony", though not long. Berlatier never told anyone about the scene itself (probably of a very shocking quality). But it is worth noting: shortly after this incident, Gabrielle Berlatier was “heard” by higher powers and her fate changed for the better. She quit the brothel, got married and lived a long, happy life. Not saying another word about Van Gogh …
Promotional video:
And the most insane artist the next day (December 24), after donating self-mutilation, was taken to a psychiatric hospital, where he was placed in a ward for violent patients diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. Gauguin hastily left Arles, never visiting Van Gogh in the hospital, but informing the artist's brother Theo about the incident.
Genius and madness are considered almost synonymous for a reason …
Video about the causes of Van Gogh's madness: