Volume 203, 2013, Pages 223–240
The Fine Arts, Neurology, and Neuroscience — Neuro-Historical Dimensions
Chapter 9 – The lead-poisoned genius: Saturnism in famous artists across five centuries
Abstract
Lead
poisoning (saturnism) has been present throughout the history of
mankind. In addition to possible ingestion from contaminated food, one
of the most important ways in which poisoning caused morbid processes
was by occupational exposure. This exposition was pandemic in the Roman
Empire, and it has been claimed that it contributed to its fall, but it
also caused numerous epidemics in Western countries until the nineteenth
century. In the case of artists, and since the Renaissance period, this
toxicity has been called painter’s colic or painter’s madness. The
latter term is partly due to the mental disorders displayed by some of
the great masters, including Michelangelo and Caravaggio, although it
was long recognized that even house and industrial painters were prone
to the disorder. This chapter examines the historical evidence of
recognition of such toxicity and discusses the controversies raised by
the possibility of professional lead poisoning in great artists. In
addition to those mentioned above, many other artists across several
centuries will be discussed, some being Rubens, Goya, Fortuny, Van Gogh,
Renoir, Dufy, Klee, Frida Kahlo, and Portinari. This chapter also
briefly mentions the possibility of lead poisoning in two famous
composers: Beethoven and Handel. Whether suffering from lead poisoning
or not, about which we cannot always be sure, we should still highlight
and admire such geniuses fighting their disorders to bequeath us their
immortals works.
Keywords
- lead poisoning;
- saturnism;
- Goya;
- Van Gogh;
- Michelangelo
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
