Genius or Madness? The debate surrounding the life and works of Edvard Munch fits into a long tradition of prejudices that have marked the history of art. Psychiatrist Giovanni De Plato tackles the issue with a multidisciplinary and multi-professional approach, questioning how much the link between "madness and art" is a product of outdated psychiatric models. After analyzing the political and artistic stigma in previous works dedicated to van Gogh and Caravaggio, the author presents a study aimed at restoring conceptual autonomy to genius and art, freeing them from the artificial association with mental illness.
Giovanni De Plato will be in conversation with Fabrizio Asioli, former director of the Department of Mental Health in Bologna, and Mauro Mazzali, former director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna.
As part of the review Le Voci dei Libri, in collaboration with Coop Alleanza 3.0
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Giovanni De Plato, medical doctor and psychiatrist, former Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Bologna and Director of the Master’s program at the Buenos Aires campus, hospital chief physician and Director of the Mental Health Department of Ausl Bologna Nord, has served as a consultant for the WHO on healthcare and psychiatric reform in Latin American countries. He was named Guest of Honor of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
He is the author of scientific manuals and volumes, essayist, novelist, and columnist. Among his main educational texts are: Manuale di Psicologia e Psicopatologia delle Emozioni (BUP, 2015); Elementi di Psichiatria (BUP, 2016). He is also the author of novels such as: Il mistero di Evita (Chiarelettere, 2020); Vincent van Gogh. Il giallo della follia (Libri Scheiwiller, 2022); Caravaggio. La luce e il buio della mente (Libri Scheiwiller, 2023). Published by Pendragon: Il figlio del Migliore (2018) and Genio e arte. Il caso Edvard Munch (2025).