Michelangelo may have had autistic talent

Michelangelo may have been a Renaissance "Rain Man", say two experts in autism.

The 16th-century sculptor and painter's artistic genius could have been a mark of Asperger's syndrome.

People with the disorder, also known as high-functioning autism, have difficulty with communication and social interaction but often show an unusual talent or skill in a particular area.

Dr Muhammad Arshad, staff psychiatrist at Five Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust in Britain, and Professor Michael Fitzgerald, from Trinity College Dublin, outline their evidence in the Journal of Medical Biography.

They argue that, like the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man, the artist was socially dysfunctional and obsessive.

But while Hoffman portrayed a character with an extraordinary ability to remember numbers, Michelangelo's gift was for art.