Journal of religion and health
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Biography Historical Article
The mother relationship and artistic inhibition in the lives of Leonardo da Vinci and Erik H. Erikson.
In four earlier articles, I focused on the theme of the relationship of melancholia and the mother, and suggested that the melancholic self may experience humor (Capps, 2007a), play (Capps, 2007b), dreams (Capps, 2008a), and art (Capps, 2008b) as restorative resources. I argued that Erik H. ⋯ I relate these two themes to Erikson's own early childhood and his failure to achieve his goal as an aspiring artist in his early twenties. The article concludes with a discussion of Erikson's frustrated aspirations to become an artist and his emphasis, in his psychoanalytic work, on children's play.