Heart-Stopping Botticelli

CEBU, Philippines —  An Italian tourist visiting the Uffizi Galleries in Florence on December 15 had a heart attack while admiring Botticelli’s sublime allegorical painting, the “Birth of Venus” (around 1485). Four visiting doctors used one of the Uffizi’s defibrillators on the tourist, who was quickly taken to hospital and is now recovering.

Museum director Eike Schmidt told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that there have been numerous such incidents: “Somebody recently fainted in front of Caravaggio’s ‘Medusa’,” he said. And, in 2016, another tourist had an epileptic fit in front of Botticelli’s “Venus.”

When asked if he believes in Stendhal Syndrome, a disorder causing overwhelming feelings when viewing great works of art, Schmidt said, “I’m not a doctor… all I know is that visiting a museum like ours, which is so full of masterpieces, can certainly cause emotional, psychological and even physical stress.” (www.theartnewspaper.com) - Cristina Ruiz