The art of resilience: a psychobiography of Frida Kahlo.

This psychobiography of Frida Kahlo explores the psychology of the famous Mexican artist. Drawing upon Kahlo's paintings and diary entries, a rich psychological analysis of the feminist icon is juxtaposed with the zeitgeist of 20th century Mexico. Framed through the theoretical model of feminist psychology, Kahlo's role in promoting gender equality and dismantling patriarchal society is discussed. Physical pain resulting from illness and impalement by a metal pole in a trolley accident was matched, if not exceeded, by the psychological pain the artist felt due to resulting issues with fertility and the long-sought but never-realized role of motherhood, infidelity within her marriage, and the eventual loss of her ability to paint. Nevertheless, Kahlo's perseverance and strength led to worldwide recognition of her bold and vibrant paintings, vulnerably depicting her rich inner world. The present study utilises perspectives from art therapy and attachment theory to elucidate the factors contributing to Frida Kahlo's resilience in the face of lifelong trauma and chronic pain. Ultimately, Kahlo's life and work offer valuable insight into the psychological experiences of women in patriarchal societies, emphasising the importance of feminist perspectives in psychological research and highlighting the healing and resilience-promoting role of art.

The Pellagra Portraits.

This Arts and Medicine feature reviews the history of pellagra and recounts the role of artist and illustrator John Carroll who, in 1919, painted portraits of people with the vitamin deficiency to document in color the appearance of pellagra skin plaques.

[Skin tumor grown within an altarpiece from the 16th century]. / Gewachsener Hauttumor in einem Altarschrein des 16. Jahrhunderts.

Fragments of the so-called "Straußfurt Retable", temporarily acquired by Nazi leader Hermann Goering and therefore later suspected as looted art, are exemplary for problems of provenance investigation in poorly documented objects. The central shrine is a carved high relief showing the coronation of the virgin Mary. Damages from the end of WWII are described and illustrated in the literature. A very astonishing dermatologic finding, however, was never mentioned, or never seen: a large exophytic "skin"-colored tumor on the cheekbone of Christ, covered by the coherent original color layer with fine crevices in the basal edges. Only on closer examination does it become clear that the protrusion could not have existed in this location from the beginning. Its (relative!) growth is a result of "working" of wood fibers without cell proliferation, with nearly no longitudinal, but very considerable transverse shrinkage. This tumor represents masses of vertical fibers belonging to a branch that was above the surface of the wood. The starting point of the tumor growth was a "knot" in the Lime wood that would not have been suspected by the carver-500 years ago.

Non-invasive detection of lead carboxylates in oil paintings by in situ infrared spectroscopy: How far can we go?

This paper demonstrates the efficacy of portable mid-infrared spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool for revealing the presence of lead carboxylates on artworks, in situ, without sampling. Samples of cerussite and hydrocerussite - the main components of lead white - were separately mixed with linseed oil, and artificially aged in two steps. Their compositional changes have been monitored over time by infrared spectroscopy in two investigation modes: absorption (benchtop instrument) and reflection (portable instrument), and by XRD spectroscopy. Each component of lead white showed different behavior depending on aging conditions, giving important information about the degradation products which are found in real cases. The accordance of results obtained in both modalities demonstrates that portable FT-MIR is a reliable technique for individuating and identifying lead carboxylates directly on paintings. Examples of the efficacy of this application are provided, by studying paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Craniofacial Features of Dwarfism in the Paintings of Velázquez.

This study describes the craniofacial features of achondroplastic dwarfism in the paintings of Velázquez. In a PubMed search, using [Velázquez] and [dwarf], 13 titles were found. In a Google Image search, [Velázquez] and [dwarf] retrieved 5 paintings. The craniofacial manifestations of the dwarfs depicted in the paintings were analyzed. Frontal bossing, antimongoloid slant, depressed nasal bridge (saddle nose), bulbous tip, malar hypoplasia, malocclusion, and chin asymmetry were observed. The presence of each manifestation was checked. In 5 paintings, portraits of 6 dwarfs having craniofacial deformities were found: Mariabárbola Asquin (left) in Las Meninas , Nicolasito Pertusato (right) in Las Meninas , Portrait of Sebastián de Morra, Portrait of Francisco Lezcano, The Jester Don Diego de Acedo, and Prince Balthasar Charles with a Dwarf. The most frequent craniofacial manifestation was malar hypoplasia (100%), followed by a bulbous tip (83.3%), saddle nose (66.7%), and frontal bossing (50%). Antimongoloid slant, malocclusion, and chin asymmetry were relatively rare (16.7% each). Through an analysis of 6 dwarfs in Velázquez's paintings, we can show that he realized and frequently expressed the craniofacial manifestations of achondroplasia: malar hypoplasia, bulbous tip, saddle nose, and frontal bossing. Despite the rarity of these presentations, he was also aware of antimongoloid slant, malocclusion, and chin asymmetry. Velázquez was a famous painter in the 17th century (i.e., during the Baroque period). Based on his excellent expression of the craniofacial manifestations of dwarfism, we can assume that he had a sound knowledge of anatomy, as well as malformations.

Museum Meanderings XII: E-Museum Jacob Lawrence Paintings and Rehabilitation Medicine.

ABSTRACT: In the April 1930 issue of the journal, Founding Editor-in-Chief William Rush Dunton, Jr, MD, initiated a new series: Museum Meanderings. Eleven installments of the series ran intermittently until December 1931. Here, a 12th installment, an e-museum "tour" of paintings by the great American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) relevant to rehabilitation medicine, is offered. In particular, his Occupational Therapy No. 1 (1949) is a most thought-provoking and inspiring masterpiece. The painting depicts five women performing various sewing activities with space in the painting brilliantly divided. The painting has been discussed by art critics, but it has not been appreciated that all the women appear actually to be the same person! Thus, the painting shows the stages or cycle of rehabilitation. Echoing Rush Dunton's thoughts in 1930, we invite further contributions to the series.

Art and Pediatric Orthopaedics: Cot and the Crutch.

Pierre Auguste Cot's painting, "Mireille giving alms at the door of Saint-Trophime," depicts a wealthy lady giving alms to a crippled beggar boy. The beautiful painting portrays the striking contrast between the rich and the poor. The painting also draws attention to the crude crutch the boy was using. This type of crutch was used over the centuries; improvements in the design of the axillary crutch occurred only in the 20th century.

Lam Qua and Peter Parker: Portraiture of Head and Neck Surgery in 19th-Century China.

In 1835, Peter Parker, an American surgeon and Presbyterian minister, established a hospital in Guangzhou and became the first Western head and neck surgeon in China. While Parker documented his most interesting cases in his journals, he also commissioned oil paintings of these patients from Lam Qua (), a prominent Chinese artist trained in British academic painting. Lam Qua produced 86 portraits of Dr Parker's patients, providing insight into not only the treatment of head and neck tumors but also the introduction of Western artistic techniques to 19th-century China. Parker's pioneering surgical accomplishments and Lam Qua's portraits document the role of art and medicine in America's cultural influence in Asia.

Depictions of penises in historical paintings reflect changing perceptions of the ideal penis size.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate alterations in depicted penis size by evaluating nude male paintings from the 15th to 21st centuries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nude-male paintings were identified from various art history websites and analysed to determine changes in penis size over time. Two observers organised the paintings according to the century in which they were created and made the calculations. Penile length to ear length (PtEL) or penile length to nose length (PtNL) were calculated to standardise the measurements using professional image analysis software. PtEL was first attempted for all paintings; if PtEL could not be ascertained, then nose length was used instead of the ear, as the nose length is defined as equal to ear length according to the golden ratio. Thus, PtNL was ensured and both ratios were then referred to using a common term: penis depiction ratio (PDR). Further analysis was performed by dividing the paintings into three groups according to the historical development of art: Renaissance Period (1400-1599; 15th-16th centuries), Baroque-Rococo and Impressionism Period (1600-1899; 17th-19th centuries) and Contemporary Art Period (1900-2020; 20th and 21st centuries). RESULTS: Of 232 identified paintings, 72 (31.1%) were excluded because they depicted images of adolescents or an erect penis. The PDR was found to differ significantly between paintings created in different centuries (P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that paintings from the 21st century demonstrated significantly higher PDRs than paintings from previous centuries (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In paintings depicting nude males, the size of the penis has gradually increased throughout the past seven centuries, and especially after the 20th century. This observation illustrates the changing sociocultural inputs into male body image and emphasises the need for improved understanding of the sociocultural factors associated with the perception of penis size in men.

The Friar with the Crutch: A Pictorial Hint of the Stroke Suffered by Bernardino da Fossa (1420-1503).

BACKGROUND: Works of art may serve as a source of evidence of diseases and help to better understand their natural history. SUMMARY: Bernardino da Fossa was a 15th-century Italian Franciscan friar who wrote sermons and historical works. He described the events of the Observance Reformation movement since its dawn, but the last chapter is unexplainably interrupted. This has been considered suggestive for an acute and disabling illness. A painting dating back 12 years after his death depicts Bernardino holding a crutch with his left arm. This may represent an important clue to establish a gait disturbance, whereas the permanent interruption in drafting his writing may be ascribed to a serious writing impairment. KEY MESSAGES: The historical detail of the writing suspension and the crutch in this painting represent important hints of the stroke suffered by Bernardino da Fossa.

[Empty chairs - Dilemmas of artistic and emotional commintment].

Two paintings by the Dutch-born painter Vincent van Gogh of his own and his friend Paul Gauguin's chair in Arles have had a major impact on twentieth and twenty-first century art, in the visual and photographic arts, literature and film. The literature interpreting the paintings, particularly art history, art psychology and psychiatry, agrees that the two paintings, painted in a psychotic state, can be seen as a coping response to van Gogh's fear of death, a kind of mourning. There is, however, another interpretation of the paintings, which emerges when the two paintings are seen as a unified whole. In this case, the picture refers to the relationship between artistic and emotional commitment, and conveys the message that the painter's artistic mission does not tolerate a partner, and that he must sacrifice his private life for his art. This concept is in line with the basic idea of the poem "Choice" by the Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet Samuel Butler Yeats. In some examples from the history of art, such as Csontváry, Gulácsy and Cézanne, creative and private life are indeed mutually exclusive, but in others, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Bach, Woolf and Joyce, artistic and emotional commitment have proved compatible.

A permanência dos símbolos teriomórficos na arte e na psique / The permanence of teriomorphic symbols in art and in the psyche / La permanencia de los simbolos del teriomorfismo en el arte y en la psique

O artigo trata de símbolos teriomórficos referidos a animais. A importância que exercem pode ser atestada pela permanência na arte (pinturas parietais até os grafites contemporâneos) e na psique. A perpetuação de símbolos e temas é tratada por estudos como os de Aby Warburg em história da arte, com as noções de Kulturgeschichte, Pathosformele Mnemosyne: a recorrência de temas, emoções e comportamentos revela a perpetuação de símbolos interligados à cultura. Essa recorrência simbólica, em termos psíquicos é entendida por C.G. Jung mediante as noções de arquétipo e inconsciente coletivo. Autores contemporâneos a Warburg e a Jung e seus respectivos conceitos, bem como a apresentação de algumas obras de arte, ilustram a importância dos símbolos teriomórficos.Aventa-se a hipótese de que seja uma necessidade psíquica de reunir a natureza biológica, sua força desejante instintiva com a esfera da mente e do sentido de ser constantemente renovada (AU).

Teriomorphicsymbols refer to animals. The importance they exercise can be demonstrated by the permanence of these symbols both in art (parietal paintings to contemporary graffiti) and in the psyche. The perpetuation of symbols and themes is dealt with by studies suchas those by Aby Warburg in art history: Kulturgeschichte, Pathosformel and Mnemosyne. The recurrence of themes, emotions and behaviors reveals the perpetuation of symbols intertwined with culture. This symbolic recurrence, in psychic terms, is understood by C.G. Jung through the notions of archetype and collective unconscious. Contemporary authors of Warburg and Jungand their respective concepts, as well as the presentation of some works of artillustratethe importance of teriomorphic symbols. It is hypothesized that it is a psychic need to unite the biological nature, its instinctive desiring force with the sphere of the mind and the sense of being constantly renewed (AU).

Los símbolos teriomorfosse refieren a los animales. La importancia que ejercen puede ser atestiguada por su permanencia en el arte (pinturas parietales hasta grafitis contemporáneos) y en la psiquis. La perpetuación de símbolos y temas es abordada por estudios como los de Aby Warburg en historia del arte: Kulturgeschichte, Pathosformel y Mnemosyne: la recurrencia de temas, emociones y comportamientos revela la perpetuación de símbolos entrelazados con la cultura. Esta recurrencia simbólica, en términos psíquicos, es comprendida por C.G. por Jung a través de las nociones de arquetipo e inconsciente colectivo. Autores contemporáneos de Warburg y Jungy sus respectivos conceptos,así como la presentación de algunas obras de arte, ilustran la importancia de los símbolos teriomorfos. Se plantea la hipótesis de que se trata de una necesidad psíquica de unir la naturaleza biológica, su fuerza instintiva deseante con la esfera de la mente y el sentido de renovarse constantemente (AU).

J. J. Woodward, the Philadelphia Centennial, and Medical Imaging in 19th Century America.

In his travelogue of the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial, What Ben Beverly Saw at the Great Exposition, James L. Dale described an exhibit that impressed him with both wonder and horror: a set of photographs documenting the outcomes of surgical operations that suggested procedures "of the most fearful character, which would seem impossible to perform, and the poor patient survive." What Dale described was the US Army Medical pavilion, where the displays were designed to convince domestic and international visitors of the professionalism and innovation of American medicine and in particular to highlight the contributions of military medicine. The medical building included a full-size model of an army field hospital and multiple exhibits constituting a representative sampling of collections from the US Army Medical Museum: photographic portraits of famous surgeons; enlarged microphotographs of blood, bone, and tissue samples; images of Civil War wounds and their treatments; artifacts and supplies for surgical procedures; and a painting, Thomas Eakins's The Gross Clinic. Together, this collection of artifacts presented viewers with a narrative of the current American medical field, with special focus on the Civil War as a catalyst for new medical discoveries. While Eakins's painting became the most famous image from the pavilion, it was not part of the original display, which was explicitly designed to demonstrate how surgeons and medical researchers used healing knowledge to transcend the devastation of the Civil War. This essay examines the exhibit's roots in wartime medicine and research and studies how Dr. Joseph Janvier Woodward planned and developed the exhibit to communicate with the public about current medical and surgical practice.

Palaeoproteomics guidelines to identify proteinaceous binders in artworks following the study of a 15th-century painting by Sandro Botticelli's workshop.

Undertaking the conservation of artworks informed by the results of molecular analyses has gained growing importance over the last decades, and today it can take advantage of state-of-the-art analytical techniques, such as mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Protein-based binders are among the most common organic materials used in artworks, having been used in their production for centuries. However, the applications of proteomics to these materials are still limited. In this work, a palaeoproteomic workflow was successfully tested on paint reconstructions, and subsequently applied to micro-samples from a 15th-century panel painting, attributed to the workshop of Sandro Botticelli. This method allowed the confident identification of the protein-based binders and their biological origin, as well as the discrimination of the binder used in the ground and paint layers of the painting. These results show that the approach is accurate, highly sensitive, and broadly applicable in the cultural heritage field, due to the limited amount of starting material required. Accordingly, a set of guidelines are suggested, covering the main steps of the data analysis and interpretation of protein sequencing results, optimised for artworks.

Micro-spectroscopic study of late 19th-early 20th century tube paints.

Many issues in the conservation of paintings from the early modern period are still unresolved due to lack of information on paints from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in particular their production, formulations, and later degradation processes. The inconsistency of the names that paint manufacturers chose for their products furthermore compounds the challenges faced by conservators and chemists wishing to study them. This paper addresses a number of these issues through investigations of commercial tube oil paints from a paint box owned by the Norwegian painter Harriet Backer (1845-1932). Samples were analyzed using a multi-instrumental approach. Micro-attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy - supported by micro-X-ray powder diffraction - allowed the identification of binders, pigments, and extenders. The data highlight the use of materials that were new at the time and not reported in the manufacturer's catalog. Furthermore, zinc stearate has been detected for the first time. Its detection and the absence of any zinc-based pigments confirms that zinc stearate was already used as dispersing agent in paint formulations at that time.

A pan-European art trade in the late middle ages: Isotopic evidence on the master of Rimini enigma.

The identity of artists and localisation of workshops are rarely known with certainty before the mid-15th century. We investigated the material used by one of the most prolific and enigmatic medieval sculptors, the Master of the Rimini Altarpiece or Master of Rimini, active around 1420-40. The isotope fingerprints (Sr, S and O) of a representative corpus of masterpieces but also minor artworks, attributed to the Master of Rimini and his workshop, are virtually identical, demonstrating the unity of the corpus and a material evidence behind the stylistic and iconographic ascriptions. The material used is exclusively Franconian (N-Bavarian) alabaster, 600 km distant from the supposed zone of activity of the Master of Rimini workshop according to recent literature. The same material was later used by the prominent Late Medieval German carver Tilman Riemenschneider, active in Würzburg after 1483, whose small corpus of alabaster sculptures we have been able to characterize almost entirely. Based on these findings, we propose here an alternative to the prevailing hypothesis of a Flemish or N-French workshop being founded on similarities of the Rimini sculpture with motives in Flemish and French painting. Our scenario, returning to the initial proposal of a German localisation of the Master of Rimini workshop, assumes the migration of an artist, perhaps trained in the Low Countries or strongly inspired by the Flemish art, to Southern Germany where he founded a highly productive export workshop, well situated on the crossroads of medieval trade, with a pan-European radiance. This study sheds a spotlight on the on the trade networks of luxury goods, the raw material used for their production, and the high-end art market in Europe as well as on international migration of artists and styles, at the eve of the Renaissance.

El campo inglés / The English countryside / O campo inglês

This article is a historical research that focuses on the site where the National Directorate of Health of the Armed Forces, the Central Hospital, the General Directorate of Peripheral Care, the Supply Division and the Directorate of Architecture and Hospital Engineering are currently located. It has belonged to the Uruguayan State since its creation. During the decades of 1880 and 1890, it was given on loan to one of the oldest clubs in our country, the Montevideo Cricket Club. The first two soccer matches of which there are historical references took place there. Of those first years, there are no photographs of that area, but there is an oil painting made around 1930-34 by a member of the Cricket that until now the only thing that is known of the person is the name, A.W. Hall. Hall. This painting is currently located in the aforementioned clubhouse.

Este artigo é uma pesquisa histórica que se concentra no local onde se encontram atualmente a Diretoria Nacional de Saúde das Forças Armadas, o Hospital Central, a Diretoria Geral de Atenção Periférica, a Divisão de Abastecimento e a Diretoria de Arquitetura e Engenharia Hospitalar. Pertence ao Estado uruguaio desde sua criação. Durante os anos 1880 e 1890, ela foi emprestada a um dos clubes mais antigos de nosso país, o Montevideo Cricket Club. As duas primeiras partidas de futebol, das quais há referências históricas, aconteceram ali. Desde aqueles primeiros anos, não há fotografias desta área, mas há uma pintura a óleo feita por volta de 1930-34 por um membro do Cricket Club, cujo único nome conhecido é A.W. Hall. Salão. A pintura está atualmente alojada na sede do clube acima mencionado.

El presente artículo es una investigación histórica que tiene como eje el predio donde actualmente se erige la Dirección Nacional de Sanidad de las Fuerzas Armadas, Hospital Central, Dirección General de Atención Periférica, División Abastecimientos y Dirección de Arquitectura e Ingeniería Hospitalaria. El mismo pertenece al Estado Uruguayo desde su creación. Durante las décadas de 1880 y 1890, se entregó en comodato a uno de los clubes más antiguos de nuestro país, el Montevideo Cricket Club. En él se llevaron a cabo los dos primeros partidos de fútbol de los cuales se tienen referencias históricas. De esos primeros años, no existen fotografías de dicha área, sí, un óleo realizado alrededor de 1930-34 por un miembro del Cricket que hasta el momento lo único que se conoce de la persona es el nombre, A.W. Hall. Dicha pintura, se localiza actualmente en la sede del club mencionado.

Art and Paediatric Orthopaedics: A Sixteenth Century Lie-down Comedian.

This outstanding painting, by an unknown artist, of a man with multiple deformities compatible with a diagnosis of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita induces the viewer to think deeply about the artist's portrayal of the subject.