The Exorcism of Charles VI's Madness, oil on canvas painting by François-Auguste Biard, 1839.
King Charles VI of France is shown in the foreground, overcome with mental illness, and leans on his mistress, Odette de Champdivers, whose expression conveys exhaustion and sympathy for her lover. In the background, cloaked and standing in the shadows, are two Augustinian monks performing an exorcism on the king. This 19th-century painting portrays religious notions of mental illness as being connected to some divine or demonic element in 14th- and 15th-century France.
Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig.
License & Copyright
Based on Wikipedia content that has been reviewed, edited, and republished.Original image by François-Auguste Biard. Uploaded by Harrison W. Mark, published on 29 August 2025. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Public Domain. This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
Biard, F. (2025, August 29). The Madness of Charles VI. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20896/the-madness-of-charles-vi/
Chicago Style
Biard, François-Auguste. "The Madness of Charles VI." World History Encyclopedia, August 29, 2025. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20896/the-madness-of-charles-vi/.
MLA Style
Biard, François-Auguste. "The Madness of Charles VI." World History Encyclopedia, 29 Aug 2025, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/20896/the-madness-of-charles-vi/.
