Summary
Deciphering the secret language of painters became a discipline into which Art historians have branched ever since the Renaissance. Various aspects of paintings and sculptures were decoded in this process. This decoding system remains however incomplete without interpreting also the medical conditions that appear in the painted subjects. History of Medicine and of Arts could be both enriched by diagnosing retrospectively diseases existent in that historical period; by identifying portraits or describing genetic family diseases. One such case is the arthritis identifiable in three out of four artists in the Durer family, visible in paintings or engravings of the early 16-th century.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appleboom Y (2005) Hypothesis: Rubens – one of the first victims of an epidemic of rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology 44: 681–683
Hutchinson JC (1990) Albrecht Durer. Princeton University Press
Koerner JL (1996) The moment of self-portraiture in German Renaissance Art. University of Chicago Press
Panofsky E (1945) Albrecht Durer. Princeton University Press
Rothchild B (2005) Style versus substance in artistic depiction. Rheumatology 44: 1465
Sharma P (1997) Medicine, Durer and the Praying Hands. Lancet 349: 1470–1471
Winzinger F (1971) Albrecht Durer. Rowohlt, Reinbek
Wolf N (2006) Albrecht Durer. Taschen, Köln
Wolfflin H (1971) The Art of A. Durer. Phaidon, London. Reprint in 1971 of the 1905 original
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Weisz, G. Arthritis in the Durer family. Wien Klin Wochenschr 119, 553–556 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-007-0875-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-007-0875-3