La morfinòmana
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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La morfinòmana (1894) by is a painting by Santiago Rusiñol located at the Museo Cau Ferrat.
This 1894 painting develops a theme well known to the author, since he himself was a morphine addict between 1889 and 1899. Morphine was a widely used drug in the late 19th century, especially among high society. Women of the wealthiest classes held meetings to collectively inject themselves, even commissioning jewelers to make silver syringes, in some cases even inlaid with diamonds. However, despite its dissemination, it was socially frowned upon, so Rusiñol resorts to the subterfuge of representing the young woman as a sick woman, who would be taking the drug to alleviate her pain. For this, it uses the color of the blanket that covers it, yellow, which in Symbolism represents precisely the disease. The young woman's hand still appears tense, dramatically grasping the sheet, but her face reveals that the alkaloid has already begun to take effect and appears placidly relaxed, making us see that the woman has already begun her journey through the worlds of Morpheus.
Signed in the lower right corner: "S. Rusiñol".