The Extraction of the Stone of Madness (The Cure of Folly) is a painting by Hieronymus Bosch, completed between 1475 and 1480.
The painting depicts the extraction of the stone of madness, a "keye" (in English a "stone" or "bulb") from a patient's head, using trepanation by a man wearing a funnel hat. In the painting Bosch has exchanged the traditional "stone" as the object of extraction with the bulb of a flower. Another flower is on the table. T...
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The Extraction of the Stone of Madness (The Cure of Folly) is a painting by Hieronymus Bosch, completed between 1475 and 1480.
The painting depicts the extraction of the stone of madness, a "keye" (in English a "stone" or "bulb") from a patient's head, using trepanation by a man wearing a funnel hat. In the painting Bosch has exchanged the traditional "stone" as the object of extraction with the bulb of a flower. Another flower is on the table. The inscription reads, "Meester snyt die Keye ras - myne name is lubbert das" (Master, cut away the stone – my name is Lubbert Das). Lubbert Das was a comical (foolish) character in Dutch literature.
It is possible that the flower is a pun on "tulip head" - meaning mad in Netherlands. Another possibility is that the flower hints that the doctor is a charlatan as does the funnel hat. The woman balancing a book on her head is thought by Skemmer to be a satire of the Flemish custom of wearing amulets made out of books and scripture, a pictogram...
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