Talented, original, and handy with a paintbrush, Richard Dadd looked set to be one of the great Victorian artists, right up there with the Pre-Raphaelites. He was a member of the Royal Academy, headed up his very own circle of painters known as the Clique, and was admired for visionary paintings depicting scenes from Shakespeare. But things went very badly wrong during a trip overseas, when he became convinced he was possessed by an Ancient Egyptian god.
It was assumed to be heatstroke, but it wasn't. Apparently suffering a form of schizophrenia, Dadd later became convinced his own father was the Devil. He lured the older man to a park for an apparently normal walk and stabbed him to death. He went on to attack someone else with a razor blade before being committed to the notorious "Bedlam" hospital, and later Broadmoor. Incredibly, Dadd went on to create some of his most famous works while incarcerated, and they continue to be displayed in major museums today.
