Art masters hold clues to ailments

WASHINGTON - Doctors are being advised to look to the paintings of great masters, such as Raphael and Rembrandt, to assess their patients' general health and for clues on their ailments.

By studying the health of the models used by the artists, Colombian-born doctor and art enthusiast Carlos Espinel has devised a new discipline called ArtMedicine.

Dr Espinel has been able to diagnose conditions suffered centuries ago by subjects in the most famous artists' portraits. He says the technique "integrates art and medical science."

"I thought the best way was to look at people as the artists, who have been looking at human beings for many thousands of years, and see what we can learn from them," Dr Espinel said.

"I was fascinated to realise the incredible amount of information that we have in art that can be useful for us."

One of his most fascinating studies is of Rembrandt, of whom, Dr Espinel says, no other medical history is known.

Dr Espinel used a showing of Rembrandt's work to outline the evolution of his health. A drooping eyelid, alteration in skin tone, a protruding temporal artery, dull eyes, all point to a variety of conditions that include depression.

He says getting the overall picture of Rembrandt's health allows for a better understanding of his personality.

Of our own potential to identify our ailments, Dr Espinel says: "We look at the mirror every day ... there is a Rembrandt in all of us."

Dr Espinel teaches the subject at universities such as Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and Georgetown in Washington. Medical reviews such as the Lancet have published his writings.

ArtMedicine shows that a 15th century painting by Masaccio reveals a case of polio, while a canvas of the same period from Chinese painter Chou Ch'en shows a subject with a harelip.

In Caravaggio's 17th century work, Sleeping Cupid, one of the subjects has a rheumatic disease.

Specialists had always thought that the illness appeared only in the 19th century, with the dramatic increase in pollution generated by the onset of the Industrial Revolution.

Specialists who had always thought that it was the Greek philosopher Heraclitus depicted in the Raphael fresco School of Athens were forced to think again when Dr Espinel noticed the subject's lumpy knee, pointing to the first signs of gout.

The man in the painting is, in fact, Michelangelo, based on sketches of the maestro by his friend Vasari, and also in poetic depictions of his health problems by Michelangelo himself.