VISUAL HALLUCINATIONS IN THE 19TH-CENTURY - RESEARCH IN A MEDICAL ARCHIVE

The authors have gathered and analyzed the visual hallucinations descr ibed in the mid- to late-19th century from archived medical records of the former psychiatric hospital ''Osservanza'' in Imola, northern Ita ly. Though the investigation was not intended as a statistical survey, the principal aim being to classify the hallucinations according to t heir outward characteristics, the authors have tried to locate the pos sible sources of these phenomena in folklore and religious iconography .