Died young in terrible agony. Doctors were able to diagnose Botticelli's Venus from paintings 500 years later

The painting "The Birth of Venus", for which Simonetta Vespucci served as the model for the goddess. Sandro Botticelli, 1482—1486. Uffizi. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The famous "Birth of Venus", now housed in the Uffizi Gallery, was painted after Simonetta's death. This monumental work became a revolution in Western art and immortalized the image of the young woman. The enamored Botticelli would paint her face until the end of his days. For more than five centuries, historians believed that the girl died of consumption (tuberculosis).

However, a new study, published in the authoritative medical journal Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, states: the cause of the tragedy was a rare and aggressive pathology.

"Beyond Compare"

Simonetta Cattaneo was born in 1453 in Liguria. At 16, she married Marco Vespucci – a relative of the very Amerigo Vespucci, after whom America would later be named.

Moving to Florence, the girl caused a real sensation. She literally charmed the local elite, including the city's rulers – brothers Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici. The poet Angelo Poliziano gave her the title "Beyond Compare" (La Sans Par).

However, her most devoted admirer was the artist Sandro Botticelli. He adored Simonetta and, many years after her death, bequeathed to be buried at her feet in the Church of Ognissanti.

In the spring of 1476, Florence was shocked by the news: the brilliant 23-year-old girl fell ill. The tragedy began unexpectedly during one of the balls, when in the middle of a dance Simonetta suffered a severe nosebleed. She collapsed unconscious, and no one could stop the blood.

Thanks to preserved correspondence between Simonetta's husband and Lorenzo de' Medici, modern researchers were able to accurately reconstruct the clinical picture of her last days.

The young woman suffered from incessant nosebleeds, nasal discharge, unbearable headaches, high fever, and vomiting. She experienced confusion and strong hallucinations.

A concerned Lorenzo de' Medici sent his best physician, Maestro Stefano, to her. He immediately began to argue with Vespucci's family doctor, Maestro Moise. The latter insisted that the girl had common consumption and prescribed a senseless treatment. In April 1476, after terrible suffering, Simonetta passed away.

Diagnosis from Botticelli's Canvases

A team of doctors from Italy and the USA, led by Professor Paolo Pazzilli, carefully studied not only historical letters but also Botticelli's paintings. They concluded that the girl was killed by pituitary tumor apoplexy – a sudden hemorrhage or infarction in an adenoma.

Working with the canvases, scientists discovered a number of medical clues. The main evidence was the correlation of infertility with unusual details in the paintings.

It is known that Simonetta never had children, and her husband remarried after her death and had nine offspring, confirming health problems specifically with the wife.

Павялічыць

Allegorical Portrait of a Woman (Simonetta Vespucci). Sandro Botticelli, c. 1480—1490. Private collection. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

At the same time, in one of his allegorical portraits, Botticelli depicts Simonetta with milk spurting from her breasts. Doctors consider this clear evidence of galactorrhea – pathological milk discharge, which often occurs with pituitary tumors (prolactinomas).

Another clue was provided by artificial intelligence. Modern algorithms analyzed five portraits of Simonetta from different years and confirmed that the girl's facial features and jaw gradually enlarged and changed. This is a classic symptom of excess growth hormone, secreted by an adenoma.

Furthermore, attentive viewers of "The Birth of Venus" often notice a slight squint (strabismus) in the goddess. During the Mannerist period, this would even become a fashionable detail, but from a medical point of view, a large pituitary tumor could press on cranial nerves, causing vision impairment and eye asymmetry.

What Triggered the Death

According to scientists, Simonetta's pituitary tumor had been growing for more than a year. It was expanding towards the sphenoid sinus of the nose, which explains the absence of complete blindness usually caused by such formations. Tumor rupture and hemorrhage (apoplexy) are often triggered by a sudden change in blood pressure or trauma. Researchers propose two historical versions of what could have been the fatal trigger.

The first version links the tragedy to dancing. During the Renaissance, balls required significant physical endurance, and rapid movements and jumps could have been the mechanical impetus that led to the rupture of blood vessels in the tumor directly during the celebration.

The second version is darker: historical chronicles and poems hint that on the banks of the Arno river, Simonetta may have become a victim of ambush or violence by Alfonso II d'Aragona, Duke of Calabria, known for his immoral behavior. Severe stress or physical trauma could well have triggered a brain hemorrhage.

More than five centuries after her death, modern science has finally vindicated the Florentine physician Stefano, who did not believe in consumption and sought another cause for the illness. Simonetta Vespucci died not from a romantic "disease of aristocrats," but from an acute endocrine disease. However, for the whole world, she forever remained Venus, floating effortlessly to the shore on a giant seashell.

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