What if certain works of art, long before the rise of modern medicine, preserved in spite of themselves the visible signs of disease? This is precisely the premise of iconodiagnosis: an approach at the crossroads of medicine and art history that involves identifying pathological signs in human representations from the visual arts – painting, sculpture, mosaic, illuminated manuscript, etc.
Practised by doctors, art historians or curious researchers, iconodiagnosis is based on the meticulous observation of bodily and physiological details depicted in a work. This approach enables retrospective diagnostic hypotheses to be made about historical, religious or fictional figures.
What is iconodiagnosis?
Iconodiagnosis (from the Greek eikon = image, and diagnosis = discernment) is an intellectual approach that involves interpreting the pathological signs visible in a work of art representing a human being, with the aim of making a plausible medical diagnosis.
This approach is based on several elements:
- A rigorous visual analysis: proportions, posture, skin tones, morphological anomalies, etc.
- An in-depth knowledge of diseases ancient and modern, and their visible manifestations.
- A consideration of the artistic and symbolic context, to distinguish what is intended by the artist from what might be realistic or involuntary.
It is therefore a hypothetical diagnosis, but one that is often surprisingly credible, fuelling both scientific debate and the curiosity of the general public.
Famous examples of iconodiagnosis in the history of art
Breast cancer in a painting by Raphael
The most famous example of iconodiagnosis is hidden in La Fornarina, a painting attributed to Raphael and painted around 1518-1519. In it, the artist depicted Margherita Luti, his probable lover.
The pinching under her left breast and the slightly bluish pigmentation, together with the swelling visible on her left arm, are thought to be signs of advanced breast cancer.
Rhinophyma in a painting by Domenico Ghirlandaio
A more obvious example is the painting “Portrait of an Old Man and a Young Boy” by the Italian artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. The old man’s nose is deformed by rhinophyma, a disease that creates a large, bulbous nose.
Beware of misinterpretations !
Often, dubious interpretations attribute to works of art diseases that are not really there! For example, it has sometimes been claimed that the Mona Lisa suffered from liver disease, giving it a yellowish tinge. In reality, it’s nothing of the sort; it’s simply the varnish that has yellowed over time. You also have to be careful about the style of the artist, who may deform the body for artistic purposes without any medical reason.
What scientific value should be attached to iconodiagnosis?
It is important to stress that iconodiagnosis is not formal proof, but an interpretation. Artists could idealise, stylise, or deliberately distort features for symbolic, aesthetic or religious reasons. A good analysis therefore relies on joint work between a doctor and an art historian.
Iconodiagnosis also has an educational value: it helps to illustrate pathologies using visual examples, to raise awareness among the general public of the diversity of representations of the body, and to connect medicine and culture.
Seeing works of art differently
By taking a medical look at art, iconodiagnosis transforms the way we read works of art. What seemed like a stylistic detail can become a precious clinical clue. An original approach in which the image becomes a medical memory.
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