Gli esordi della cura della follia in Sicilia. Il traitement moral e la Real Casa de’ Matti

The essay analyzes the events surrounding the creation of the Real Casa de' Matti in Palermo, according to a project by the Bourbon government that assigned its management to Baron Pietro Pisani (1824). The study then explores how 'moral therapy' was interpreted in Sicily. Against a backdrop of a context that considers the new theoretical approaches to psychiatry, characterized by new facilities dedicated to treating mental illness across the continent, it is observed how this aristocrat downplayed the importance of the medical discipline, bringing much of the aspects related to caring for madness under personal control, marked by the charismatic role of the director of the psychiatric facility.