The Holmes-Adie Syndrome in the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

[helvella]

Another paper speculating on historical, and artistic, thyroid disease. Interesting, but always take such things with a big pinch of salt.

The Holmes-Adie Syndrome in the Mona Lisa of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Deivis De Campos 1 , Danielle Coutinho Rodrigues 2 , Luciano Buso 3

Affiliations

• PMID: 34738587

• DOI: 10.23750/abm.v92i5.10355

Abstract

The literature describes that the renowned artwork of the genius of human anatomy, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), known as Mona Lisa (1503-1506), is among one of the most enigmatic artworks in the History of Art. In this context, many details inserted on the composition of this artwork, including those related to Mona Lisa physical aspects' (anatomy) are controversial. The few known descriptions that provide some thorough indications about the woman who served as the model for this work, were written by Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) in 1550. According to Vasari, the Mona Lisa is a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo (1479-1542) and although he has given a detailed description concerning Lisa's physical characteristics, some are not fully understood so far. In this context, the unequal size of her pupils stands out, a clinical condition known as anisocoria. On this detail, this Letter presents unprecedented pieces of evidence that the anisocoria represented in Mona Lisa may be an indicator that Lisa del Giocondo had a neurological disorder known as Holmes-Adie Syndrome, which could have been caused by an endocrine disruption of the thyroid hormones. Thus, the pieces of information presented on this Letter are essential for further studies once, through them, it is possible to know more about the physical characteristics and also about the probable health condition of the renowned character of one of the most famous artworks of history.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/347...

Full paper freely available from here:

mattioli1885journals.com/in...

ADDING:

Some links which might help anyone who has interest in the syndrome to get started:

rarediseases.org/rare-disea...

ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All...

discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/epri...

[JGBH]

Interesting but we shall never know! She has taken her secret with her, centuries ago. I went to see this amazing painting quite a few times and it always intrigued me. It was a while back when one could actually come very close to the painting. It is not the case anymore. There is a barrier now, as you might know, which detracts somewhat, I think. It definitely creates a distance, as I experienced when I last saw it not long after this protective barrier was installed. Thanks for the links.

[TSH110]

That is interesting . Curious too that my pupils are of noticeably disproportionate sizes. Never thought it might be down to the thyroid disorder…must find out more about that Holmes Adie syndrome. My colour vision was badly affected and quite different in each eye. The colour vision has recovered since taking NDT but it remained affected on Levothyroxine. Fascinating stuff.

[helvella Administrator in reply to TSH110]

I think reduced colour perception is an important and significant symptom of hypothyroidism - but almost never mentioned.

Even I, who was never very hypothyroid in laboratory and symptomatic terms, found a slight reduction in colour. As if someone had turned down the chrominance on a television. Or you go to a big television shop and are seeing the world like that rubbish model at the back - not the full quality of a 72-inch super-duper latest model.

And I know others have said this.

Have added some links to my post.

[JGBH in reply to helvella]

How interesting. I have never experienced this symptom but many others…

[TSH110 in reply to helvella]

Mine was very washed out but dingy too - rather depressing as I recall, but it happens so gradually you don’t really twig until the colour starts to flood back. I just thought my eyesight was getting worse plus I had double vision & serious starbursts around lights so things are decidedly rubbish where my eyesight was concerned also became quite deaf but this has improved greatly bar, the tinitus

[helvella Administrator in reply to TSH110]

Insidious is the word!

I also had some double-vision.

[helvella Administrator]

An illustration - the old BBC Test Card F - repeated with saturation reducing 10% at each step from 100% to 20%.

For me, I guess at worst I was around 60 to 70%.

Old BBC test card F with progressively lower saturation 100 to 20%

[TSH110]

Bottom right I’d say possibly even 10% cos I don’t remember seeing that lurid green! Doctors should use that chart - it’s probably more helpful for diagnosis that TSH!

Well spotted btw 😉 I don’t suppose they did a double vision one 🤣🤣🤣