L'ipercolesterolemia della Gioconda

Curiosa conclusione di uno studioso palermitano: Monna Lisa, la celebre Gioconda, con ogni probabilità soffriva di colesterolo alto. Lo dimostrerebbe un incavo dell'occhio sinistro - detto tecnicamente 'xantelasma' - ossia un accumulo di adipe sottocutaneo, conseguenza di un livello eccessivo di grassi nell'organismo. La stessa tesi è stata avanzata anche dal medico giapponese Haruo Nakamuyra, il quale aggiunge che verosimilmente la Gioconda soffriva anche di pressione alta e trigliceridi alti. Ecco l'articolo originale pubblicato ieri dal Telegraph. The facial expression - one of the main reasons why the 16th century painting is among the most famous works of art in the world – shows signs of a build up of fatty acids around the eyes of the subject, according to Vito Franco of the University of Palermo. The Italian scientist says the model in the oil painting had a xanthelasma – a subcutaneous accumulation of cholesterol – in the hollow of her left eye and a fatty tissue tumor. It suggests very high levels of cholesterol in the model, thought to be Lisa del Giocondo, a member of a Florence family who married a cloth and silk merchant. Franco also claims to have identified a genetic bone tissue disorder, Marfan syndrome, in two other Renaissance figures: the subject for Botticelli's Portrait of a Youth, which hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the subject for Parmigianino’s Madonna with Long Neck. Franco told the Italian newspaper, La Stampa: "The people depicted [in art] tell us about their vulnerable humanity, independently of the awareness of the artist.” He added that Michelangelo’s appearance in the foreground of Raphael's The School of Athens suggests he suffered from “an excess of uric acid, typical of those afflicted by renal calculosis”. This was possibly because the artist had been living off nothing but bread and wine while working on the Sistine Chapel, Franco said.