Art vandalism in the complex relationship between schizophrenia and violence

Abstract

This article deals with the theme of art vandalism, seen specifically as a destructive act carried out by a psychiatric patient against works of art. The famous Italian case of the damage inflicted on Michelangelo’s David is analyzed through a psychodynamic reading that contributes to amplifying our knowledge of the relationship between violence and schizophrenia, introducing key concepts such as the capacity to imagine, the female image, the non-conscious mind, inherent to Massimo Fagioli’s Birth Theory.