Distinguishing medical conditions from artists’ stylistic embellishments can contribute to our historical understanding of diseases like arthritis
When visiting art galleries, one often sees abnormal anatomical features depicted in paintings and sculptures. In the recent Brisbane exhibition of works from the Prado museum in Spain, viewers could find instances of medical conditions in the works of several artists — for example, dwarfism (Velasquez) and club-foot (Ribera), as well as mandibular abnormalities in Hapsburg family members (Titian).1 Here, we report that we have observed what we argue to be pathological changes, albeit subtle ones, depicted in the hands of two portrait subjects in the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Museo Nacional del Prado. Portrait of Spain: masterpieces from the Prado [exhibition catalogue]. Brisbane: Queensland Art Gallery, 2012.
- 2. Brock M. Bronzino. Paris: Flammarion, 2002: 52-54.
- 3. Langedijk K. The portraits of the Medici: 15th–18th centuries. Florence: Studio per Edizioni Scelte, 1981: 79-120.
- 4. Weisz GM, Albury WR, Lippi D, Matucci-Cerinic M. Who was Pontormo's halberdier? The evidence from pathology. Rheumatol Int 2012; 32: 1915-1920.
- 5. Herman PJ. A systematic study of the pictorial hand from Botticelli to Rembrandt. In: Appelboom T, editor. Art, history and antiquity of rheumatic diseases. Brussels: Elsevier, 1987: 38-40.
- 6. Weisz GM, Matucci-Cerinic M, Lippi D, Albury WR. The ossification diathesis in the Medici family: DISH and other features. Rheumatol Int 2011; 31: 1649-1652.
- 7. Weisz GM, Matucci-Cerinic M, Albury WR, Lippi D. The illnesses of Carlo di Ferdinando I de’ Medici: a second opinion. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2012; 30: -6-11.
- 8. Rosenfeld MN. Largillièrre and the eighteenth-century portrait [exhibition catalogue]. Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1982.
- 9. Bolton R, editor. The collectors: old master paintings [exhibition catalogue]. London: Sphinx Fine Art, 2009: 166.
- 10. Rothschild B. Style versus substance in artistic depiction. Rheumatology 2005; 44: 1464-1465.
- 11. Appelboom T. Style versus substance in artistic depiction. Rheumatology 2005; 44: 1465.
No relevant disclosures.