VG, a 35 year old right-handed, heavy drinking, unemployed male artist, was admitted to Arles hospital, Provence in December ’88 under the care of Dr Felix Rey. He was agitated, experiencing auditory hallucinations, and had alcohol on his breath. Earlier that evening, he had argued with, and assaulted, his male companion with a razor. Feeling remorse, he had cut a piece from his own left ear, walked to a brothel, and presented a parcel containing his ear to a prostitute friend saying, “Guard this object carefully”: she fainted on seeing the ear and alerted the authorities. Over the following weeks he suffered repeated “madness” episodes, resulting in voluntary transfer to the nearby Saint Rémy asylum (May ’89 – May ’90, Dr Peyron), and thence for three months’ convalescence at Auvers-sur-Oise (Dr Gachet). Shortly after discharge, however, M van Gogh shot himself in the abdomen, and died two days later, on 27 July 1890.