Probably the most popular example of the "mad artist" stereotype was none other than famously talented painter Vincent van Gogh. "I put my heart and my soul into my work, and lost my mind in the process," he once said. Van Gogh was said to have suffered from depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.

Creativity and mental illness have been connected over time. Some mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, have been said to have helped popular artists with their works. One of the most known "tortured artists" is Vincent van Gogh, who experts consider to have suffered from psychosis.

While prominent artists like Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and Edvard Munch all projected their own mental illnesses into their art, other artists simply demonstrate the idea of struggles or how the world around us impacts our minds.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo isn't a name most are familiar with. Yet, for a painter working during the Renaissance, his paintings are quite bizarre. Despite his unusual style, Arcimboldo's work became synonymous with Mannerism and the Renaissance obsession with riddles, puzzles, and the strange and bizarre.