NOF4

The madhouse of Volterra is a former psychiatric hospital in the city of Volterra, Tuscany, Italy. Founded in 1887, the hospital was renowned for its harsh treatment of inmates, and finally shut down in 1979 after the coming into effect of the Basaglia Law. Today it is known as a spontaneous museum, featuring in its pavilions the artworks, both literary and pictorial, of its over 6,000 mental patients. The cycle of hieroglyphs scratched into the 180-metre-long courtyard walls by former patient Fernando Nannetti (a.k.a. NOF4) is today universally regarded as a masterpiece of outsider art. Photo: Patrick Faugeras.