The real woman behind Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ died at only 23
Popular Science...
The “Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli is easily among the most well-known paintings from the Renaissance. Yet the premature death of the young woman and muse who made the painting possible remains shrouded in mystery. New research published in the journal Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism suggests that Botticelli’s model Simonetta Vespucci died due to complications from a tumor on her pituitary gland.
Who was Simonetta Vespucci?
Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci was born in Genoa, Italy, on January 28, 1453. She was well-known in Florentine high society for her manners and intellect. Humanist and poet Poliziano called her La Sans Par (the Unrivalled) and she was close to both Lorenzo and Giuliano de’Medici, the powerful co-rulers of the Florentine Republic.
In 1469, Simonetta married Marco Vespucci, a member of a noble family of Florentine bankers. Artist Sandro Botticelli was among her devoted admirers and friends. He painted her five times over the course of his career.
Simonetta died in 1476 in Florence at only 23 years old. While life expectancy was lower during the 15th Century, nobles like Simonetta often lived longer due in part to their wealth. Her body was laid in public in vestita e scoperta (dress in white, face uncovered), which was considered a high honor for illustrious Renaissance figures. Simonetta was buried at the church of Ognissanti, where her remains still lie today.
In 1510, Botticelli asked to be buried at her feet as a final devotional act to his muse. Art scholars consider Simonetta’s features to be the peak Renaissance aesthetic, but they also could hold clues to her death.
Headaches, hallucinations, vomiting, and fever
Originally, tuberculosis was suspected as the cause of death. In 2019, an international group of researchers suggested that Simonetta suffered from a pituitary adenoma, or a benign tumor on the pituitary gland.
Over the past seven years, the same team has researched more documents into her premature death, particularly the record of symptoms during her final days. Her symptoms and physical features suggest the pituitary tumour caused her death. They believe that she died when an expansion of the tumor caused a blockage in blood flow or bleeding in the pituitary gland (called a tumor apoplexy).
They also hypothesize that dancing or a suspected rape by Alfonso II D’Aragona, Duke of Calabria may have precipitated a medical emergency. A military leader, D’Aragona was known for cruelty and was greatly feared by the people of Naples. One anonymous Venetian source wrote that he was hated for his “most cruel insults and offenses” or the most heinous crimes, including “violating virgins, taking other women for his pleasure,” and practicing the “detestable and abominable vice of sodomy.” No proof exists that he raped Simonetta and the Venetians were enemies of the Neapolitans and of the Aragonese—like Alfonso—and the account could be one sided.
“Letters between Piero Vespucci and Lorenzo de’Medici about Simonetta’s final days discuss how she collapsed during a ball and was then resting in a darkened room where she suffered from terrible headaches, hallucinations, vomiting and high fever,” Dr. Domiziana Nardelli, a study author and resident ear, nose, and throat physician at Universita Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, said in a statement. “These are all symptoms of a rapidly expanding pituitary tumour.”
Other clues to Simonetta’s condition lie in Botticelli’s paintings. In “Allegorical Portrait of a Woman,” she is shown lactating, yet she did not bear any children.
“This is a surprising way to portray her and we believe that this – along with changes in facial traits – could show the real physical symptoms of a prolactin-growth hormone secreting adenoma,” added study co-author and diabetes researcher Dr. Paolo Pozzilli from Queen Mary University of London. “We’ve confirmed this possible diagnosis using a facial recognition algorithm based on a pre-trained deep learning model, on five portraits of Simonetta.”
The irregular eye positioning seen in the “Birth of Venus” is a strabismus or misaligned eyes. While this is considered a trait of piety and beauty in art, it may have been caused by Simonetta’s pituitary tumor.
Pozzilli’s next paper will focus on the misalignment of her eyes to add even more clues to this mysterious Renaissance death.
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