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father was the devil, and that the son had been commanded by
the Egyptian god Osiris to kill both Robert Dadd and other people.
This was a delusion that Dadd maintained once he was in Bethlem. He
remained convinced that he was on a mission to battle the devil,
who could take many forms, including that of Dadd senior, and that
the artist formerly known as Richard Dadd was in fact descended
from Osiris.
    Almost
immediately that he was confined to Bethlem, Dadd began to paint
again, something that, happily, he would continue to do for the
next forty years. He appears to have been very insular during his
time at Bethlem, and did not associate much with other patients.
However, he formed a close bond with the man who was both his and
Edward Oxford’s doctor, Charles Hood, the superintendent of
Bethlem, and also with steward George Haydon, the same steward that
Oxford had apparently communicated with years after his own
discharge. Hood was a reformer who sought to create Bethlem as a
refuge for its patients, in the modern Victorian fashion. Haydon
was a writer and artist as well as being a steward of lunatic
asylums. It seems reasonable to assume that Dadd found some
encouragement from them both.
    As in Oxford’s
case, the Broadmoor case notes repeat some observations on the
patient made at Bethlem in 1854: ‘For some years after his
admission he was considered a violent and dangerous patient for he
would jump up and strike a violent blow without any aggravation and
then beg pardon for the deed. This arose from some vague idea that
filled his mind, and still does so to a certain extent, that
certain spirits have the power of possessing a mans body and
compelling him to adopt a particular course whether he will or no.’
He was reported to binge eat until he vomited, and otherwise behave
eccentrically, believing that he was possessed of special
powers.
    Also like
Oxford, Dadd was amongst the tranche of Bethlem patients who were
transferred to Broadmoor when the latter opened. Dadd made the
great trek to the Berkshire countryside on 23rd July 1864, a few
days short of his 47th birthday. At the prescribed initial
examination of a new patient, his tongue was recorded as being
‘broad and flabby’. He was also still convinced of his delusions,
believing himself to be a marked man ‘under the influence of an
evil spirit’: ‘Makes laboured attempts at justification of the two
criminal assaults saying it was in “justification of the
Deity”.’
    He settled in
to his new accommodation quickly, and soon began painting again. By
November 1864 his case notes record that he was engaged in a
detailed fairy painting. He received money from his family
regularly, and in the patients’ account books kept by the Hospital
his careful signature records his receipt of brushes and board that
he purchased for his work. These accounts also record many
purchases of foods with strong flavours, such as herrings,
gingerbread and peppermints. Patients were allowed to maintain
funds for their own use, and trusted patients such as Dadd made
good use of this concession.
    For Dadd was a
tranquil patient, whose madness only became apparent during
conversation. His notes regularly state his seeming contentment, as
well as the continuation of his delusions. One conversation with
Dadd written up by William Orange was on the subject of chess, and
how some people possessed a spirit that allowed them to play chess
‘without the board’. Dadd further mused that chess pieces could be
unfriendly towards some players due to the ‘antiquity of the game’.
Evidently nothing could escape the ancient pull of Osiris.
    Dadd suffered
from gout from time to time, though was also able to keep up an
intake of wine and spirits, and suffered a prolonged bout of
illness during 1868-1870. By 1870, he was recorded as having lost
three stone over the past two years. However, he had recovered
sufficiently by 1872 to begin to paint decorations around the stage
in Broadmoor’s