the green fairy

that lady above have been on my desktop for quite some time now. i just fancied her from another blogger's page, so i adopted her. i did not know much what the Privat-Livemont's 1896 poster was about until i stumbled upon "absinthe" contributing to Van Gogh's mental illness and cause of death (i was researching on Van Gogh, a popular visual artist due to another blogger's antry).

"Van Gogh cut off the lobe of his left ear during some sort of seizure on 24 December 1888. Mental problems afflicted him, particularly in the last few years of his life. During some of these periods he did not paint or was not allowed to. There has been much debate over the years as to the source of Van Gogh's mental illness and its effect on his work. Over 150 psychiatrists have attempted to label his illness, and some 30 different diagnoses have been suggested.

Diagnoses which have been put forward include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy and acute intermittent porphyria. Any of these could have been the culprit and been aggravated by malnutrition, overwork, insomnia, and a fondness for alcohol, and absinthe in particular.

Medical theories have even been proposed to explain Van Gogh's use of the colour yellow. One theory holds that Van Gogh's colour vision might have been affected by his love of absinthe, a liquor that contains a neurotoxin called thujone. High doses of thujone can cause xanthopsia: seeing objects in yellow. However, a 1991 study indicated that an absinthe drinker would become unconscious from the alcohol content long before consuming enough thujone to develop yellow vision."

According to Wikipedia :

"Absinthe is traditionally a distilled, highly alcoholic (45%-75% ABV) beverage. It is ananise-flavored spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, also called wormwood. Absinthe has a characteristic natural green colour but can also be colourless. It is often called "the Green Fairy".

It achieved great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. Due in part to its association with bohemian culture, absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitions.

Traditionally, absinthe is poured into a glass over which a specially designed slotted spoon is placed. A sugar cube is then deposited in the bowl of the spoon. Ice-cold water is poured or dripped over the sugar until the drink is diluted to a ratio between 3:1 and 5:1.

Currently, most countries have no legal definition of absinthe, although spirits such as Scotch whisky, brandy, and gin generally have such a definition. Manufacturers can label a product “absinthe” or “absinth” without regard to any legal definition or minimum standard."