Ecstasy, Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1922) by Atelier Liesjes

A woman stands naked between two other persons and is in ecstasy.

Ecstasy is a subjective experience of total involvement of the subject, with an object of their consciousness. In classical Greek literature it refers to the removal of the mind or body 'from its normal function'.

Total involvement with an object of interest is not an ordinary experience. Ecstasy is an example of an altered state of consciousness characterized by a reduced awareness of other objects or the total lack of awareness of the environment and everything around the object. The word is also used to refer to a heightened state of consciousness or intensely pleasurable experience. It is also used more specifically to refer to states of awareness of non-ordinary mental spaces, which may be experienced as spiritual (the latter type of ecstasy often takes the form of religious ecstasy).

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (Amsterdam, Holland, Netherlands, June 6, 1868 - Auschwitz, February 11, 1944) was a Dutch graphic artist, craftsman and painter. Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita became best known for his 'sensitivist drawings', bizarre, often caricatural representations. In 1902 he was appointed teacher at the School of Arts and Crafts in Haarlem. On 1 February 1944, he was deported to Auschwitz, where he was probably murdered by the Nazis immediately upon arrival.