Written collaboratively by Ibrahim Bazyan, Ruby Spada, Maria Viscomi

In context with Oliver Sacks’ case study within An Anthropologist on Mars, Franco Magnani provides insight into how mental instabilities affect identity, human relationships, and memory. In the chapter of An Anthropologist on Mars titled "The Landscape of His Dreams," there is a keen focus on the case of Franco Magnani, a man who is sometimes referred to as the “Memory Artist”, but also a man who is believed to be suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy. Magnani was born in Pontito, a very small town in Italy. As Pontito was fairly isolated, it remained the same for many years, and Magnani lived a safe life. This all changed in 1942 when his father was killed in an accident, and he became the man of the house. Things got worse when the Nazis took over Pontito and virtually ruined what it had been. Eventually Magnani moved away from Pontito, settling in America, but his hometown always held a special place in his heart. Magnani became mentally ill, and was admitted to a sanitorium. While he was there he experienced very strange symptoms including extremely vivid dreams of Pontito. After his stay in the sanitorium, thoughts and images of Pontito controlled Magnani's life, and he began painting these visions. The visions became more consuming as time went on. He would become enthralled with stories of Pontito in the middle of otherwise normal conversations, and his eyes would begin to dart around the room, giving signal that he was having a vision. Although he was never properly diagnosed, there is reason to believe he has temporal lobe epilepsy and Geschwind syndrome.