Centuries ago, before becoming one of the largest hospital complexes in Europe, La Salpetrière had a less altruistic use as a gunpowder factory. Under Louis XIV, it was turned into an asylum that operated more like a prison, where female outcasts could be shut away from existence. With no promises of recovery or freedom, the unfortunate “patients” usually finished out their natural lives there, “for their own good.”

Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital           
Libéral Bruant
Paris, France
1656