The collection of the History of Psychiatry Museum has a very long history.
The museum was established in 1875 by the then director of San Lazzaro Psychiatric Hospital, Carlo Livi, in order to show – in a positivist light – the advances, discoveries and applications that were a source of pride for psychiatric science and its institution.
The museum was expanded by subsequent directors who kept some of the obsolete treatment paraphernalia for its collection.
Its founder wrote: “today all these old tools, used at a time when force prevailed over reason, have been brought out again, not in order to torment humanity, but to bear testimony to the fact that our present times are not only wiser than the olden times, but also kinder, more humane and more charitable.”
