Bethlem Hospital

Image credit: Coram in the care of the Foundling Museum

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Notes

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The original Bethlem Hospital was founded at Bishopsgate in 1247 as the Priory of Saint Mary of Bethlehem. The institution treated the mentally ill from the fourteenth century onwards. In 1547 it became the Royal Bethlem Hospital, one of five hospitals refounded after the Reformation. At this time the Hospital came under the direct control of the City of London. In 1676 the Hospital was relocated to a new site at Moorfields. The impressive baroque building designed by Robert Hooke is depicted in this painting. William Hogarth set the final scene of his series 'A Rake's Progress' (1735) in the Hospital, which was commonly known as Bedlam. At the time of Haytley's painting the Hospital was the only public institution for treating the mentally ill in the country.

Foundling Museum

London

Title

Bethlem Hospital

Date

1746

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 55.8 x W 55.8 cm

Accession number

FM26

Acquisition method

presented by the artist, 1746

Work type

Painting

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40 Brunswick Square, London, Greater London WC1N 1AZ England

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