Absinthe was not banned until the 20th century. But manufacturers, governments and the public, enamored of profits, tax revenues and titillation, respectively, were slow to heed the warning signs. Other culpable chemicals came from the leaves and flowers used in the drink’s preparation. The symptoms and extent of the damage from excessive consumption of absinthe could not be attributed to alcohol alone. The disease known as absinthism was recognized in the 1850’s its victims evinced a dazed condition) and intellectual enfeeblement and experienced terrifying hallucinations. It could also wrack the drinkers’ brains. Absinthe was said to evoke new views, different experiences and unique feelings. Absinthe’s popularity with the soldiers spread among their compatriots from all walks of life some of the most creative people of the time were its devotees. French soldiers fighting in the Algerian conflicts of the 1840’s had spiked their wine with wormwood extract (ostensibly to ward off fevers), and on their return to France their acquired taste was satisfied by absinthe, which contained a variety of essential oils including that of wormwood. The drink was enormously popular in the late 19th century, particularly in France. In his fondness for absinthe van Gogh was by no means alone. There is good evidence to indicate that van Gogh was addicted to absinthe, that his psychosis was exacerbated by thujone and that his fits with hallucinations contributed to his suicide. The thuja tree is a classical source of the chemical thujone, a constituent and indeed the toxic principle of the alcoholic drink known as absinthe. Gachet’s choice of a grave ornament was unwittingly pathetic. The gesture was probably inspired by van Gogh’s admiration of thuja trees and his inclusion of their flamelike images in some of his Auvers paintings. Gachet, the doctor who attended van Gogh during the last two months of his life, planted a thuja tree on the artist’s grave. Vincent van Gogh shot himself on the afternoon of July 27, 1890, in Auvers-sur-Oise, France he died in the early morning two days later.
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